


Encoded

by naelany



Category: Stargate - All Media Types, Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Attempted rape off screen, Bond interference, DNA, F/M, M/M, canon level voilence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-10
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2019-03-29 12:35:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 30
Words: 112,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13927248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/naelany/pseuds/naelany
Summary: Friendship and love are mere happenstance.Right?Wrong.When the expedition reaches Atlantis, however, they cannot deny the evidence Dr. Beckett uncovers. Unlikely friendships form and love blooms around them. The most shocking thing of all? Soulbonds exist.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks Keira, for hosting Rough Trade (yes, I’m aware this one’s nearly four years old. Not the point). It’s always a source of inspiration to me. Jilly also deserves thanks for the beautiful banner as well as for being my wonderful beta; any mistakes left in this body of work are all mine.
> 
>  
> 
> [](http://naelany.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Encoded_Final-e1520698952312.jpg)  
> 

“I don't bloody want to sit in that chair, Rodney! I've told you that. I'm not the man for that kind of power,” Carson exclaimed.

Kimberly, Mac, and Daniel exchanged amused looks at the by now familiar interaction between Rodney and Carson. Grinning, Kimberly shook her head. “C'mon, Carson. You know we need all the data we can get on the chair, and we can't do that without having someone who has the gene sit in it and activate the thing. Do it for science,” she teased.

Carson directed his ire in her direction. “Easy for you to say, lass. You don't have the bloody gene so there's no chance of you blowing up the base – or  _ worse! _ ”

“For the last. Time. Carson, as long as you don't think of anything other than what I tell you to think about, you should be fine. So far, I'm pretty sure there's a conscious mental component to this tech so just-” Rodney groused, obviously irritated that he had to depend on anyone else to do this for him.

“Fine!” Carson exploded, throwing his hands up in the air even as he moved to take a seat in the dreaded chair.

Mac chuckled, then quickly ducked his head at his friend and colleague's glare. “Right. You'll be fine, Carson. Just clear your mind.”

Taking a deep breath, Carson settled uneasily in his seat, closing his eyes.

Kimberly tuned out the snippy comments between Rodney and Carson as she continued to take her readings, not that there was much to see. Apparently, Carson was taking their directions of keeping a clear mind to heart. Perhaps a little too well for their purposes. Still, it allowed her to multitask. Nudging Daniel in the side, she cast him a quick grin, murmuring under her breath, “So Jack'll be here in about half an hour or so.”

Daniel's mouth tightened slightly, but the faint blush on his cheeks belied any real irritation. “I'm aware,” he said quietly.

Kimberly's brows knit together as she detected the hint of aggravation and longing in those two simple words. “It'll be okay, you know,” she said sotto voce. “You two are meant to be.” She was certain of that, even if the men in question appeared to have their doubts. She knew they both loved each other but had never acted on their feelings due to the stupid regulations. “I still say the whole fraternization thing doesn't apply to you guys. You're not military,” she pointed out, not for the first time.

Sighing, Daniel ran his hand through his hair, then straightened his glasses after having knocked them askew in the process. “But he is, Kim. I can't ignore that. Not with both of us in the SGC. We're still 'team'.”

Giving her friend an understanding smile, she squeezed his hand. “That why you put in for the expedition?”

Daniel nodded. “Yeah. It's getting to where it's just too hard to be around him. I think some space would do us both good.” A sudden distant expression came over his face. One Kimberly knew all too well.

“What is it?” she prodded.

“Space,” Daniel murmured, distracted. “That's it! Sorry, gotta go.” And with that, Daniel hurried off.

Kimberly wondered what that was about. Glancing at Mac, he merely shrugged as if to say, 'no idea', before going back to his readings. Carson's, “You see? Nothing!” brought her out of her reverie. Looking over her shoulder, she blinked in amazement as Carson stormed out of the chair.

“Carson, get back here,” Rodney said tiredly.

“I can sit in that chair all bloody day long and nothing'll happen. It's a waste of time. Excuse me, Dr. Weir,” Carson said as he swiftly walked past her, obviously in a hurry not to get pulled back into the chair for more testing.

“Right,” Mac mumbled under his breath, eyeing Rodney warily. Turning to Kimberly, he rolled his eyes, then nodded to their instruments. “You get anything useful?”

Kimberly refocused on her work and went over her findings with Mac, only vaguely aware of Daniel coming into the room again, only to turn around again, taking Dr. Weir and Rodney with him.

Several minutes passed before Rodney returned, an objecting Carson in tow. “You don't understand, I break things like this,” Carson tried, looking for all the world as if Rodney were taking him to the gallows rather than the Ancient chair.

“It survived for thousands of years, it'll survive you. Now sit down, shut up, and concentrate,” Rodney said, pushing Carson into the seat.

“Here we go again,” Mac said on a sigh.

Kimberly bit her cheek to keep from laughing, especially when Carson practically attempted to leap out of the chair when nothing happened.

Rodney pushed him right back into his seat with an admonishing, “This time, imagine where we are in the solar system.”

With a heavy sigh, Carson settled back in the chair and closed his eyes, only to have them pop open in shock when the chair lit up and tilted backward. Kimberly and Mac stared at each other for a moment, then both their heads swiveled to the noise from the other room.

Shouts of, “What the hell?” and “Look out!” were quickly followed by what sounded like an explosion. Pandemonium followed as alarms went off and people tried to figure out what had happened.

“Shit,” Kimberly cursed under her breath, her eyes scanning the screen in front of her. “A drone just launched.”

“Did I do that?” Carson all but squeaked.

“Yes, yes, now shut it down!” Rodney urged.

Elizabeth and Daniel came running into the room. Elizabeth started to talk Carson through the process of calling off the drone while Daniel moved to stand next to Kimberly. Her friend looked a little green around the gills as he watched the screen with the drone's progress. At the narrow miss with the helicopter, Daniel actually swayed a little.

Kimberly gripped his arm to get his attention. “They've been told to land, Daniel. They'll be fine. Carson's working on the drone. They'll be fine,” she repeated.

Nodding, Daniel's eyes remained fixed on the screen. He didn't stir until Carson let out a sigh of relief and the confirmation came over the radio that the drone had turned off and the general was safe.

Smiling, Kimberly patted Daniel's arm. “See? Now, how about we grab some coffee? I could use some after the excitement.” She knew she'd better keep Daniel distracted, at least until Jack arrived on base, or else the man would drive himself crazy, and it was a well known fact that Daniel survived on coffee.

They left the others behind in search of their treasure, neither of them talking but that was okay. It would be enough for Daniel to have her there. Not until they both had a cup of the bitter liquid in hand did Kimberly speak. “So what was the revelation you had earlier?”

“Hm? Oh!” Daniel grinned. “I figured out what was wrong with the address. I know where Atlantis is.”

Eyes widening, Kimberly stared at her friend. “No way! For real?”

Nodding, Daniel took a sip, then explained about the address being an eight chevron one, not the usual seven. “It's in another galaxy, Kim. Pegasus, to be precise. And we can go there.” Frowning slightly, he amended his statement. “Theoretically, at least. Jack still has to sign off on it, of course.”

Kimberly was filled with equal amounts of excitement and sadness. She'd been recruited for the expedition months ago, so she knew she'd be going if it ever got the go ahead. But leaving would mean saying goodbye to Daniel, possibly forever if he was right about it being in another galaxy. They'd been friends for years, ever since he'd come to her rescue during an off-world mission. It had been her first time out, and she had yet to learn the nuances of dealing with other cultures. It had led to some misunderstandings that had nearly caused her her head – and she meant that literally – until Daniel had intervened on her behalf.

As much as she knew Daniel wanted to go on the mission to Atlantis, she also knew all too well that Jack would never let him go. She sighed and hugged him awkwardly, mindful of the cups of coffee they were holding. “I'm going to miss you, Daniel,” she said quietly.

Wrapping his arm around her, he kissed the top of her head affectionately. “I know. I'll miss you, too.”

“General O'Neill incoming,” they overheard someone say as they walked by.

Taking a deep breath, Daniel nodded, pulling himself together. “Right. C'mon.”

She walked Daniel to the elevator where he'd wait for Jack before she headed back to the chair room. Carson and Mac were discussing what had happened earlier, going over the data they'd collected. Joining them, Kimberly soon lost herself in the work until she heard someone say, “So you're the one!”

Carson paled, presumably because of the rather intimidating man stalking toward them. Mac pulled Carson so the chair was between him and the major as he came closer. Kimberly stepped aside, unsure whether to call for help or not. The major looked pissed, and given what had happened, he had every right to be. Friendly fire was generally  _ not _ considered a good thing, after all.

“Me?” Carson breathed.

“You're the one who fired that thing at me,” the major said, glowering.

“Look, we're doing research, working with technology that's light-years beyond us,” Carson pleaded, indicating the chair as he continued, “and we make mistakes. I'm incredibly, incredibly sorry.”

The major followed the sweep of Carson's arm and came to a halt, seemingly equally puzzled and intrigued. He cleared his throat. “Well, next time just be a little more careful, okay?”

The sudden change in demeanor had Kimberly's attention and she wondered whether he'd really been as upset as he had appeared to be. Especially when he leaned into Carson and conspiratorially asked what that thing that had attacked him was. The look of confusion on the major's face grew at Carson's explanation, and she suddenly had the thought that while he had been ferrying the expedition members to and from the outpost, he himself had no clue what was happening here.

Carson apparently had a similar thought as he suddenly paled further. “You  _ do _ have security clearance to be here?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. General O'Neill just gave it to me.” He held out his hand. “Major John Sheppard.”

“Dr. Carson Beckett. Pleased to meet you. So... you have no idea about the stargate, then?”

“The what?”

“Oh dear.” Carson glanced briefly at Mac, then Kimberly. She shrugged.

Grabbing Mac's shoulder, she turned him neatly back to the computers and began to go over the information again, looking for any clues they might have missed before about how Carson activated the drone in the first place. She tuned Carson's explanations to Sheppard out as best she could. She had the feeling they wouldn't have much more time left in the outpost if Daniel got his way. Not now that he'd figured out the gate address.

Suddenly the room lit up and the computers started to spit out new information. Kimberly and Mac both looked up in shock, turning around to find the major sitting back in the chair, stiff as a rail. “Have you ever seen it do that?” she asked Mac.

“No. Never. Do you think-?”

As one, they refocused on their screens even as Carson went haring out to find Dr. Weir and Rodney. The chair was giving off massive energy readings compared to what it had before and it made Kimberly feel like Christmas had arrived early. Of course, the light display didn't help much with that impression.

“I thought I told you not to  _ touch _ anything,” Jack said at the sight of Sheppard in the chair.

“I-I just... sat down, sir,” Sheppard stammered, unmoving.

The general sighed even as Rodney moved to stand in front of Sheppard. “Major, think about where we are in the solar system.” He sounded excited, and with good reason, Kimberly thought.

Above them, a hologram of the solar system popped into existence. Kimberly couldn't help staring at it, marveling at the detail.

“Did I do that?” Sheppard asked, sounding stunned.

“Yes, you did, now focus,” Rodney said, brusquely. “Wouldn't want to set off another drone,” he added scathingly, scowling at Carson.

“It was an accident!” Carson explained.

“Right. Major-,” and Rodney went off on a tangent, giving the poor major rapidfire instructions which he seemed to follow with ease.

Never before had Kimberly seen anyone interact with the chair on the level Sheppard was doing at that moment. It was as if he was one with the device. It was kind of spooky, truth be told, but also very exciting.

Spotting Dr. Weir, Kimberly beckoned her over. Quietly, she pointed at the readings scrolling over her screen. “Dr. Weir, if Atlantis is even remotely like this outpost, we have to have him on the expedition. We  _ need _ someone with his abilities. The way he's manipulating this tech, it's... beyond anything I've ever seen before. Not even Peter, Miko, or Carson come even close to what he's doing.”

Elizabeth nodded, gazing pensively at the major as he was run through his paces by Rodney. “Alright. I'll see what I can do. Good work, Dr. Smyth.”


	2. chapter 2

Evan couldn't quite contain his grin as he stood waiting for his brother's team to return. They were due any minute now, and he was nearly bursting with excitement over the news. Standing by the door of the gateroom, Evan leaned against the wall and assumed a relaxed stance, folding his arms over his chest even as the first chevron lit up.

It seemed to take longer than normal for the wormhole to engage, but seconds after it did, Ioan stepped through the gate and spotted his older brother. Evan bit his cheek to keep from laughing at the confused look on Ioan's face as he walked down the ramp.

“Hey, man, everything okay? Something happened, right?” Ioan asked, unclipping his P90.

Pushing off from the wall, Evan easily kept pace with Ioan as they headed toward the infirmary for post-mission medical. “You could say that,” Evan hedged, grinning. Handing Ioan a piece of paper, he added, “We got our orders. Atlantis is a go.”

Ioan's eyes widened almost comically. “You're shitting me!”

Laughing, Evan shook his head. “Nope. This was your last mission. We have three weeks to get everything organized for the expedition, then we get a few days’ leave to say goodbye before attending to last minute details.”

That sobered them both somewhat. As excited as they both were at the prospect of discovering the city of the Ancients, and everything that might entail, they knew that the trip would likely be a one-way affair, unless they could find ZPMs on the other side. Neither of them were naïve enough to believe it would be that simple. Still, they were all too aware of what Earth was facing if they didn't at least try, and it was a sacrifice they were willing to make.

Clearing his throat, Ioan read his new orders to buy himself a little time, then said quietly, “So we're really doing this then?”

Evan clasped his baby brother's shoulder. “General O'Neill'll understand if you want to stay, Ioan. This is still mostly on a volunteer basis.”

Ioan shook his head. “No. No, I'm going. I've got your back, Ev. Always.”

Squeezing Ioan's shoulder, Evan nodded. “I know, and I've got yours. Now go. Get your medical over with. As soon as you've been debriefed, we need to report to Sumner.”

The following days, Ioan and Evan were hip-deep in paperwork. At least, that's what it felt like to Evan. He'd known of course that organizing an expedition like this meant they had to try to account for every little thing they might need. Envision every possible scenario and prepare for it. But as much prep as had already been done up to this point – and that was when they only had a vague idea of the trip actually happening – there was still a crapton to do.

It was a given that they'd need as many weapons and as much ammunition as they could possibly get away with. God only knew what mess they'd land in once in Pegasus after all, and they would not have the SGC behind them anymore. They'd be on their own. But it was everything  _ else _ that stunned him. The uniforms. The MREs. The non-perishable foods. The seeds. The data pads. The batteries and generators. The list was  _ endless _ .

Ioan muttered unintelligibly under his breath as he checked off his list. Chuck, who was helping them, scratched his head, then asked, “You get the nagging feeling they missed something in all this?”

Evan looked up. “What do you mean?”

Chuck and Ioan shared a glance. Chuck said, “Movies,” at the same time Ioan said, “Entertainment.”

Shuffling through the myriad notes, Evan hummed. “You're right. They thought of everything else, but not what we might do to unwind. I guess they figured that was for each individual to do?”

Ioan snorted. Sighing, Evan nodded. “Yeah, you're right. I'll see what I can figure out.”

It took some doing, especially since Sumner was a bit of a hard-ass, but Evan finally got the okay to arrange for entertainment, on the proviso he did it on his own time. Help came from an unexpected corner, though in retrospect, Evan should have known better. One afternoon, Vala came traipsing into the office with Cameron in tow.

“Hi, boys! I heard you needed some help spending money on fun stuff!” Vala hopped onto Ioan's desk and winked at him.

“Vala,” Cameron warned, though he had a hard time not smiling.

“Oh hush, Cameron, and don't be a spoilsport. These fine young officers are going to a galaxy far, far away, and  _ someone _ neglected the entertainment. Who knows what trouble they'll get into and we're going to have to miss out on all the treasure they might come across, so the least we can do is help them out now.”

Evan and Ioan exchanged amused looks while Cameron seemed to barely be holding it together. Vala either didn't notice or ignored it, but it was painfully obvious she considered the matter closed. “Right. So,” she said, turning her attention to Chuck, who'd thus far been staring dumbstruck at her, “I've got Colonel Tightwad over here looking into getting you a couple of projectors. Teal'c, Sam, Daniel, and I are ordering lots and lots of books and movies – though no porn because Colonel Bossypants here wouldn't let me. All digital copies of course, and Sam'll make sure they're all compressed so they take up less space, but just in case, she's putting them on hard drives not yet allocated to you, so you won't lose out on anything for work.”

They all sat listening to her, stunned, as she continued to rattle off what she'd already managed to put together in merely a few hours. Evan had to admit that the woman was impressive. Completely nuts, of course, but impressive.

“So, what else will you need?” she finally finished, glancing from one to the other before settling back on Ioan.

Clearing his throat, Ioan ran his fingers through his hair thoughtfully. “Well,” he mused, “we've all been polled on hobbies and skills outside of what the military's taught us. Which makes sense, because there's plenty that we'll need to do for ourselves if we're truly cut off from Earth. But I didn't notice much by way of making use of it. I know there's knitters and sewers, but while they've requisitioned sewing machines and fabric to make uniforms and the like, there's little else. Also no tools for woodworking or other things. Though they have got everything for gardening, thanks to botany.”

Nodding, Vala pulled a notepad from her cleavage and a pen from her hair, which ended up cascading around her face now it was no longer being held up. Evan watched in amazement as she scribbled a few quick notes, then nodded to herself again. “Right. On it.” Hopping back to her feet, she grabbed Cameron and herded him out the door, throwing a casual, “Not to worry, boys, I've got you covered. Come on, Cameron, we're going shopping, and we're taking Sam and Daniel with us.”

Chuck was still staring after her in a daze when he said quietly, “So... do you think General O'Neill knew what he was doing when he okayed adding 'fun stuff'?”

Huffing a laugh, Ioan shook his head. “I don't think anyone's ever really prepared for Hurricane Vala. She's something else, that one.” After a pause, he added, “I'm gonna miss her.”

Grinning, Evan couldn't help agreeing. “Yeah, she's made life interesting here, to say the least. Not that it was ever  _ boring _ , mind you.”

  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Uncle Ev! Uncle Ioan!” two shrill voices echoed as they walked through the door of their parents' home. Bracing themselves for the onslaught of their niece and nephew as they barreled into them, hugging their legs. 

Evan dumped his bag on the floor, scooping up five year old Joe. “Heeeeey, slugger. You been taking good care of your mom and Natalie?”

Seven year old Natalie, ensconced in Ioan's arms, looked triumphantly at Evan. “ _ I've _ been taking care of  _ him _ , Uncle Ev.  _ I'm _ the oldest,” she said in a voice that clearly questioned his sanity.

Ioan grinned, ruffling her hair. “Of course you have, Nat. Now come on, let's go find granma and grampa, okay?”

Wiggling out of his arms, Natalie scooted down and ran off to the kitchen, hollering, “Granma! Grampa! They're here! They're here!”

Joe giggled, apparently content to stay where he was. Sucking his thumb, he pointed after his sister and mumbled, “Mommy there, too.”

Sure enough, once they made it to the kitchen they found their sister Amanda helping their mother with dinner, while grampa had pulled Natalie up on his lap at the table. Wiping her hands, Sarah stepped up to Evan who put Joe down in order to hug his mother. “It's so good to see you, son. It's been too long.”

Suppressing a wince, Evan glanced at his brother who was busy hugging Amanda. He gave a slight nod, and Evan knew Ioan was thinking the same thing he was: This might well be the last time they saw their family, and they wouldn't be able to prepare them for that eventuality. Granted, they were both in the Air Force, so there was always that inherent risk of them dying on the job, but it wasn't the same and they knew it.

Clearing his throat, Evan pulled himself together and kissed Sarah's cheek. “Sorry, mom. You know how it goes,” he hedged.

Sean coaxed his wife off their oldest son and pulled Evan into a hug of his own. “Of course we do, Evan. You know how your mother fusses. She did the same to me when I was in the Force, she does it with Aaron, and I'm sure if either Joe or Natalie enlists, she'll do the same with them, too.”

That earned their dad a smack on his arm, but the reminder had served its purpose. Evan felt a little better about the situation and he could tell it was the same for Ioan. “Thanks, Dad.”

After everyone had had a chance to reconnect, Evan and Ioan were directed to sit at the table. They were not allowed to help with anything, they never were on their first day home. It didn't take long, though, for dinner to be served and soon they were catching up over great food.

Amanda handed Ioan a roll. “Aaron requested leave so he could see you, but he couldn't swing it. He's sorry to have missed you guys and said to tell you to keep your heads down on your next assignment.”

Tearing at the bun, Ioan nodded. “He doing okay? Where's he at these days? Still in Afghanistan?”

“Yeah. He's fine, just really busy. Should be back home in time for Christmas, though. At least as far as things stand now. When'll you be back home, do you know?”

Evan cringed, then quickly hid his discomfort. “No idea. We're not going to make it back any time soon, I know that much.”

“We won't be able to contact you, either. The mission we're on is highly classified and communications in or out'll be... tricky,” Ioan added casually, though Evan could see the balance he was trying to maintain. “You know you'll all be in our prayers, though.”

Reaching across the table, Sarah put her hand over Ioan's and smiled. “As you will be in ours, boys. Always. You be careful out there, alright? Come home to us safely.”

Evan's jaw tightened, then he forced a smile. “We'll do our best, mom. Promise.”

The next couple of days, both Ioan and Evan tried to put thoughts of their upcoming mission out of their minds as they focused on glutting themselves on family time. They played ball with the kids, went on long hikes as a family, played golf with their dad, and went shopping for art material with their mother and sister. On a whim, Evan decided to stock up on paints and brushes, too. Just in case. He'd find room in his allotment somehow.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Da!” Mac called out, waving as soon as he spotted his father in the arrivals’ waiting area.

“Mac, my boy, it's good to see you,” Conall said as he hugged his son tight.

Mac clung to his father, relishing this moment even more than he usually did. It wasn't often he had the chance to return home, after all, and God only knew if and when he'd be able to visit again. After a couple of minutes, they let go and made their way to the underground, as Mac only had his carry-on for luggage. As was their tradition, they stopped by the pub for dinner and a few pints before heading home.

They only had three days together before Mac had to report to the SGC, so they made the most of things. Mac helped his father around the house, doing those chores the old man no longer could do on his own. They did the shopping, cooked together, played chess, and took a tour of the British Museum. Conall went there every week and held a membership in order to enjoy special exhibits. Usually, he took someone along, be it one of the kids from the youth center or someone from the senior citizen's home he volunteered at.

On the morning he was traveling back to the SGC, he stopped by the grave of his mother to pay his respects. Conall stood waiting at the entrance as usual, giving his son the time he needed. Placing the small bouquet of her favorite white roses, interspersed with sprigs of lavender fresh from his father's garden, on her grave Mac sighed. He wished he could tell his father everything that was going on, but since he couldn't, he took his beloved mother into his confidence. 

“Hello, mum. I'm sorry I've been gone so long. You wouldn't believe the work I do now. Or maybe you would, if you're watching over me. I hope you are, and that you'll be able to keep doing so. I have a feeling we'll need all the help we can get. I'm going to go to another galaxy, mum. Crazy, isn't it?”

He reached a hand out and gently touched the lettering on her headstone. “It's my biggest adventure yet.” He pondered a moment. “I don't know if you'll be with me there, mum, but if it means you can't be here for da, then stay here. Da'll be all alone with me gone, but I can't not go. There's too much at stake. I'm not talking about my career, but I'm sure you know that already. There's dangers out there, mum, that people here couldn't fathom. I have to do what I can. You understand, don't you?”

Mac listened quietly for a moment and smiled when he felt a warm breeze caress his face. He knew people thought him silly for talking to his mother's grave as if she were there and able to hear him, but he'd seen too much over the years to discount the possibility. After all, hadn't he seen Daniel die and interact with his loved ones more than once? And then come back, alive and well? Mac was no fool, though, in holding out hope for his mother's return, but he firmly believed she was still here in some capacity.

After allowing himself a few more minutes, he got to his feet and dusted off his pants before bending to rest his forehead against the headstone. “Goodbye, mum. I love you. Please take care of da.” With that, he turned and walked toward his father who put an arm around his shoulder without saying a word.


	3. chapter 3

“Newton, get down!” Rodney grumbled as he plucked his cat off his desk for the umpteenth time. Sighing, he put him in his lap instead, petting the cat while he continued to go through his mail. It had piled up during his time in Antarctica, and while he'd canceled any subscriptions and put a permanent redirect for everything else to the SGC on it effective today, he still wanted to make sure he hadn't missed anything important.

Not to mention, this would be his last chance to catch up on the latest in the science community, and one of his favorite hobbies – if one could call it that – was to rip other people's papers apart, pointing out every glaring mistake he could find. It had been years since he'd been able to put anything in print himself, and there were times when he regretted the sacrifice that working for the SGC brought with it. Not that he didn't have several papers written and waiting to be released as soon as the program declassified. All the scientists in the program had them, and he'd read most of them. They had to be their own peer board, after all.

Scouring through the article in front of him, Rodney scoffed at the headline ' _ Friends have more DNA in common than strangers' _ . Shaking his head, he automatically began to toss it on the discard pile. “Just what we need. More voodoo crap being pawned off as science,” he muttered to Newton, who meowed in response.

Rodney was already reading through another paper, this time about DNA sequencing in mice, and how they'd successfully introduced rat DNA, thereby creating a viable cross-breed. Rolling his eyes, he flung it aside, too. Newton jumped back on the table and pawed at the paper, meowing. Rodney chuckled softly, scratching Newton behind the ear. “What is it, boy?” Another meow was his answer and Rodney sighed. “Yeah, maybe you're right. This seems like something up Caron's alley. Mac's, too. I'll pass it along to them, how's that?” A satisfied meow followed by a headbutt against Rodney's chest was Newton's reply.

Lifting the cat up, Rodney cradled him in his arms as he got to his feet. “I'm going to miss you, you little furball,” he said, pressing a kiss to Newton's head. “You've been the best friend I've ever had, Newton. I wish you could come with me, but we're not allowed pets.” Rodney walked over to the kitchen, his face twisting in displeasure at the sight of all Newton's food ready and waiting to be delivered to his neighbor.

“Guess I can understand, though, even if I don't like it. I mean, who knows where we'll end up and how safe it'll be. Better you're here, where I know you'll be taken care of.”

Newton gave what sounded like a sad mreow to Rodney, which just twisted the knot in his stomach even further. “I know, buddy. It's not fair, is it? I'm sorry.” Sighing, Rodney hugged his cat to him tightly, then put him in his carrier. “It's time, Newton. Gotta get you to 12B.”

Newton made his displeasure known by meowing and pawing at the small gate as Rodney gathered the boxed paraphernalia up and placed Newton's carrier on top. Rodney was extremely glad that he only had to carry it one door over, because the load was heavy and more cumbersome than he had thought. “You're one spoiled rotten cat, you know that, Newton?” Rodney said fondly before knocking on his neighbor's door.

After a minute, the door opened to a scowling brunette, though the scowl quickly morphed to a genuine smile when she saw Newton. “Hey, kitty.” She gingerly touched the paw that stuck through the gate of the carrier, then turned her attention to Rodney, her expression instantly changing back to her scowl. Rodney was all too aware of her feelings toward him, and they weren't charitable to say the least. But she loved cats, and had a special fondness for Newton who had visited her a few times in the past whenever he'd escaped his apartment. It was the only reason he had even considered asking her to take care of him.

“So you're really leaving, then?” she asked curtly, disapproval and relief evident in her face.

Rodney nodded. “Yeah, unfortunately. May I?” he asked, indicating he would put everything inside for her.

Reluctantly, she let him in and watched as he kneeled down in front of the carrier to say his final goodbye to his faithful friend. “You behave, okay? I'm sure she'll take great care of you and give you all the treats and scritches you deserve. I really am going to miss you, Newton.”

His face flushed slightly as he realized he'd shown more than he'd intended, but letting go of Newton was turning out to be much more difficult than he'd imagined. He couldn't quite meet his neighbor's eyes as he straightened up. “Err... well, that's it, I guess. Thanks again for taking him in. It... it means a lot to me to know he's in a good home.”

That earned him the first genuine smile from her that he'd ever received, small as it was. “You're welcome. And... have a safe trip, McKay.”

He nodded. “Thanks.” With that, he left, and it wasn't until he was packing his bag that it dawned on him that she'd known his name. And that he had no idea what hers was.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kimberly looked up as someone knocked. “Oh good, would you mind terribly?” she asked the young lieutenant hovering by the door, pointing to a large crate. “I'm afraid they packed it a little too heavily for me to carry, and it needs to be on one of the first carts out.”

Grinning, Ioan walked over to her, holding out his hand. “Hi, don't think we've met yet. I'm lieutenant Ioan Lorne.”

Shaking his hand, Kimberly gave him a bright smile. “Dr. Kimberly Smyth. Lorne? You related to major Evan Lorne, by chance?”

“Yep. He's my big brother. You know him?”

Leaning her hip against her desk, she crossed her arms and tilted her head. “Hmm, yes. Well, sort of. I've helped his team out a few times in the field.” She paused, curiosity and amusement clear in her eyes as she continued, “Ioan, you said? So was there a particular reason your folks named both their sons 'John'?”

Startled, Ioan laughed and scratched the back of his neck. “Actually, yeah. We're both named after our grandfather. It's a bit of a tradition in our family, but mom refused to have us both with the same name, so we each got a variant instead.”

Grinning, she nodded approval. “Interesting way of getting around that. I like it.”

“I'm rather surprised you knew that, to be honest. Not many people ever catch onto that,” Ioan admitted, giving the young doctor an appraising look.

She shrugged. “Names have always been a bit of a hobby of mine. Though mine doesn't really mean anything. Something I still tease my mom about,” she added with a wink.

Ioan grinned, blushing faintly. “I kinda like it.” Clearing his throat, he indicated the crate. “So, where to?”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Got a minute?” Daniel asked, sticking his head into Jack's office.

Sighing, Jack nodded as he straightened in his seat. “The answer's still 'no', Daniel,” he said tiredly. He really wished Daniel would stop asking about Atlantis. Jack  _ hated _ seeing the look of hurt and disappointment on the man's face. The thing was, there was just no way Jack would ever agree to Daniel joining the expedition. At least, not without another ZPM, and they were fresh out.

“But-,” Daniel started, walking over to the desk.

“Ah!” Jack interrupted, holding up his hand. “We've been over this, Daniel. I need you here, and that's that.”

And there was that hurt look on Daniel's face again. Dammit all. Pushing himself back from the desk, Jack got to his feet and closed both doors to his office and shut the blinds so no one could see inside. It wasn't something he did often, mostly because he liked transparency in his command, and he figured he didn't need to start the rumor mill if he could avoid it. This was one of the few times that called for an exception in his book, though.

“Daniel,” Jack said firmly, cradling the man's jaw in both hands, his thumbs tucked in front of his ears. Taking a deep breath, Jack gazed into his friend's eyes, wishing like hell he could give him everything he wanted. “Twice, you've gone where I couldn't follow, Daniel. For all we know, Atlantis is a one-way deal. Please... don't ask me to watch you go a third time. I just can't do it, okay? I know that makes me a selfish jackass, and I'm sorry, but I just  _ can't _ .”

There were so many emotions running their course over Daniel's face that Jack almost couldn't take it anymore, so he crushed the younger man to his chest, holding on for dear life. The thought of losing what he held most precious in this world  _ again _ was one Jack O'Neill simply wasn't equipped to deal with.

Daniel clung to him just as fiercely, his hands gripping Jack's uniform tightly as he tucked his face into Jack's neck. His breath ghosted over Jack’s skin as he murmured, “Then what are we going to do, Jack?”

Jack shivered, hugging the man a little tighter still. “I don't know,” he croaked, and he really didn't. The only thing he was certain of was that he couldn't keep pushing Daniel away anymore. At the same time, their jobs made it to where they weren't allowed to be together. There were few times where Jack hated the military more than he did right in this moment.

“Jack,” Daniel breathed.

“I know, Daniel. I know. We'll figure it out, okay? Together,” Jack said gruffly, pulling back to look into the man's eyes. He had to be sure they were on the same page, and judging by the look of hope and determination he saw reflected back at him, he was confident they were.

“Together,” Daniel agreed, giving him a small smile.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Elizabeth and Rodney sat across the desk from each other as they went over last minute details. They'd been at it for a couple of hours already, so when Elizabeth asked Rodney if he wanted coffee, Rodney was all too happy for the break. As she handed him his cup, he tried to make conversation. He'd readily admit that it wasn't one of his better skills, but he figured he'd better try since they'd be living in each other's pocket soon enough. “So I dropped Newton off at my neighbor's yesterday.”

Raising a brow in question, Elizabeth took a sip.

“Newton. My cat?” Rodney explained.

“Ah. I see. How'd that go?” she asked, mild understanding on her face.

“About as well as you could expect it to go, considering she hates my guts. She loves Newton, though, so she'll take good care of him for me.” Staring into his cup, he added, “I'm gonna miss that cat.”

Elizabeth reached across the desk to pat his hand. “I'm sorry, Rodney. I wish you could have brought him, but you understand why-?”

Waving her off, he nodded. “Yes, yes, I get it. It wouldn't be safe for him. I'll be fine.” Clearing his throat, he glanced over the rim of his cup and asked, “What about you? Did you get to say goodbye to your family and stuff?” before taking another drink.

To his amazement, Elizabeth ducked her head and her cheeks flushed. “Not really. I haven't left the base. There's just been too much to do,” she hedged.

It was obvious, even to Rodney, that she was hoping he'd drop it but something didn't seem right so he pushed ahead. “What do you mean?  _ Everyone _ got leave to take care of matters, Elizabeth. Everyone. You didn't spend time with your family at all?”

Rodney was fervently pushing thoughts of his sister aside, knowing full well he hadn't taken the opportunity to make amends with her before leaving, either. That they had not spoken for four years wasn't just  _ his  _ fault, in his opinion. “Well?” he demanded.

Scowling slightly, Elizabeth sighed and sat back in her chair. “I sent a video to Simon.”

Rodney sputtered. “A  _ video _ ? Are you kidding?” Rodney vaguely remembered the name Simon Wallace from somewhere concerning the SGC, and thought it was the name of her  fiancé.

“No, I'm not. I explained about the expedition, leaving for Atlantis, everything.” At Rodney's look of incredulity, she added, “The President granted him the clearance.”

Rodney stared at her, utterly flummoxed. “So you decided the best way to read him in on the whole thing was by  _ video _ with an 'oh hey, by the way, I'm leaving for another galaxy'?”

He had always considered Elizabeth to be one of the strongest women he knew, and that she had a good moral compass... for someone as practiced in politics as she was, at any rate. He would have never believed her capable of something like this, however, and he wasn't entirely sure how he felt about it.

Elizabeth sunk a little lower in her seat. “I know. I know. I just... I couldn't do it. I was all set to go see him the other day, but when it came down to it, I just couldn't face him. I've been wanting him to join the program for years, but the regulations never allowed him to be read in because I was part of the SGC already. With me leading the expedition, the President conceded that there was enough leeway in the regs for Simon to have a chance here. I wanted him to hear it from me, but... I knew if I saw him, he'd try to talk me out of it, and I just didn't want to risk it.” With a quiet voice, she added, “None of this is fair.”

They sat in silence for a while. Rodney because he had absolutely no idea what to say to that or even how to process what he'd just learned about the woman who was to lead them. And from the look of her, Elizabeth was just happy to drop the subject.

After a few minutes, Rodney snapped his fingers a couple of times and said, “Right, so, botany,” getting them back to business.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Right in here, sir,” Walter said, indicating the office Elizabeth and Rodney occupied.

They both looked up and Elizabeth got to her feet. “Major, glad you could make it,” she said, stepping around her desk with outstretched hand.

Shaking her hand, John gave her his easy smile. “Thank you, ma'am. It was my understanding that you're the leader of the expedition, so I wanted to check in with you first before reporting to Colonel Sumner.”

John was well aware he should have done that first, but he had his own way of doing things and he figured that the whole reason for him going on this joyride in the first place was to play lightswitch. It had been made clear to him he was outside the chain of command, so checking in with Dr. Weir first seemed the logical thing to do.

Glancing at Dr. McKay, John's smile turned to a grin when he saw the look of wry amusement on the man's face. John had to admit that one of the factors playing into his agreeing to go on this adventure was the fact that the good doctor was going. He hadn't been able to put the man out of his mind since that fated day John had ended up in that chair. There was just something about him that spoke to John, though he couldn't put his finger on it - aside from the man's brusque, no-nonsense manner, which John found particularly refreshing.

“Thank you, Major, but all things considered, you might want to hop to and get it over with,” she said dryly. “Wouldn't want to make a bad first impression, would you?”

John scoffed. “I seriously doubt there's anything I can do to avoid that, ma'am. My jacket tends to go ahead of me in that regard.” He was well aware that she knew all about the details surrounding his black mark, and he was grateful that she didn't seem to hold it against him like so many others had in the past. Which was partially why he had come to her first rather than heading directly to Sumner.

“Right,” she said, a look of understanding on her face. “All the same, report to Sumner. If he doesn't have any need for you, come find me.”

John gave her a crisp salute – something he only ever really did for people he respected – and with a nod to Rodney, he was off to find his latest superior officer. John got lost in the maze that was the SGC and ended up having to ask help from a rather exotic looking doctor, who escorted him to the office Sumner had been allocated.

“Reporting as ordered, sir,” John shot off, executing another, less crisp salute. He stood to attention while he waited for the colonel to acknowledge him. Something the other man took his time with.

In his periphery, John could see the man grab a file, open it, and leaf through it before closing it with a thump. It took everything John had in him not to roll his eyes at the expected huff of disapproval that followed.

“Major.” The silence stretched on for several seconds before Sumner continued. “I hand picked every military asset on this expedition. They are the best and bravest this country has to offer, no matter the branch they are from.”

John remained quiet, not having been given permission to speak. It was painfully clear to him that Sumner had made up his mind already on the matter of one John Sheppard, and it wasn't in his favor. Not that he'd expected it from a man like Colonel Sumner. Badass Marine poured off of him in waves.

“You are neither the best nor the bravest, Major, and I do  _ not _ trust you. However, it has been impressed upon me that you are mission essential, so I am saddled with you whether I like it or not.” Sumner got to his feet to stand in John's personal space, putting him nearly nose-to-nose with the man. “While you are under my command, you  _ will _ follow orders. To. The. Letter. Major. Do I make myself clear?”

Suppressing a sigh, John dutifully uttered the expected, “Sir, yes, sir.” He really hoped that the colonel would be able to look past the black mark in John's jacket sooner rather than later, or else this would end up the station from hell. Not a pleasant prospect, considering.

“Report to the infirmary for a complete physical,” Sumner ordered. “Dismissed.”


	4. Chapter 4

“Here, let me help you with that, ma'am,” came a voice behind them. Kimberly turned to see Ioan lifting the heavy backpack and helping Miko settle it on her shoulders. The poor girl nearly sagged under its weight, but with some minor adjustments from Ioan, she was soon on her feet and stable.

“Thank you, Lieutenant,” Miko said shyly.

She waited for her turn and smiled gratefully when Ioan directed his attention to her. “Thanks, Lieutenant. Appreciate it.”

“You're welcome. These things can be tricky at times, and with how much you ladies have packed in them, it doesn't help,” he teased. “And please, call me Ioan,” he admonished gently. “You, too, doc.”

Kimberly shot back, “Like yours is any lighter.” 

“Hai! Then you must call me Miko,” Kusanagi added almost in tandem with Kimberly. 

Kimberly stifled a chuckle at the obvious pleasure on Ioan's face. She knew from Miko that Ioan had been in the mountain for a while now, just like his brother, even if she herself had only met him a week ago. Miko wasn't one to easily get to know, or to get on a first name basis with, so it said a lot about Ioan that she'd granted him the use of hers.

A movement behind Miko caught her attention and her eye fell on Carson as he tried to push his way past a couple of soldiers. The look on his face was equal parts longing and she thought some jealousy, too. As he walked by them, she offered him an apologetic smile, earning a wan one in return. She knew Carson was smitten with Miko – it was an open secret to anyone who paid attention.

She sighed. There were times that she thought it might be a good idea to forcibly smack her friends' heads together in order for them to get closer already. Seriously, sometimes both Miko and Carson were far too shy for their own good. Though in Carson's case, it was part shyness, and part him being too much of a gentleman to force his company on anyone.

Catching Ioan's questioning look, she gently shook her head, hoping he'd catch the hint and not ask. Thankfully, with another scrutinizing glance, he nodded and excused himself. “Gotta go get in place. We're one of the first ones out if the gate connects,” he said, already making his way to the gateroom.

“See you later!” Kimberly called after him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

If John were completely honest, he was feeling a little intimidated. Okay, a lot intimidated. The whole mountain – or at the very least, the level they were on – seemed to be crawling with people, most of whom would be walking through the stargate with him.

To another galaxy.

And wasn't that a trip and a half he really rather wouldn't focus on right then, because John wasn't at all sure his nerves could handle it. Everything had gone so fast, and there'd been so little time, all things considered, that they hadn't managed to send John through the gate even once in order to get him used to the idea. The very thought that he would be going to another planet in another galaxy boggled his mind, though he worked very hard to keep an outward calm.

Things would be difficult enough on this mission without giving anyone ammunition to use against him because they felt he wasn't up for it. Sumner already believed him to be less than honorable or brave. No need to add fuel to that fire.

And yet, when Sumner approached him just as the gate started to dial out, reminding him who was giving the orders, John simply couldn't help himself. “That'd be Dr. Weir, right?”

The look Sumner sent him was pure ice and venom. John could've kicked himself for opening his big mouth, but then he'd always been a bit of a smartass and it tended to bite him in the rear, so why would this time be any different, really.

John turned his gaze over the crowd around him until he noticed the large window above them. He nodded and smiled when he noticed General O'Neill watching them. The general's lips quirked as he nodded a greeting in return. John felt he wouldn't have minded being under his command at all. From what he'd been able to tell the few times he'd interacted with the man back in Antarctica, they shared a similar sense of humor, and he seemed to John to be someone you'd want to be at your back when things went south.

John's smile widened when he caught sight of Rodney leaning over one of the technicians. The sound of the wormhole engaging made John jump and he turned on his heel with wide eyes as he took in the phenomenon. Never in his  _ life _ had he imagined anything like this, but it was real, and happening, and he was going to have to step through that thing any minute now.

His throat suddenly dry, John swallowed, and as the M.A.L.P. got sent through the event horizon, he purposely turned his attention back to Rodney, who was leaning closer to the screen. The sudden grin flashing on the other man's face made John's stomach flip. He couldn't tell if it was due to nerves or something else, but right in that moment, he didn't care. The look on Rodney's face meant one thing and one thing only: they were actually going to Atlantis.

He lost sight of Rodney for a second as he disappeared out of the room, soon followed by Elizabeth. Sumner was barking orders, telling everyone to stay put until he and his team had cleared the immediate area. Elizabeth's contradiction that she go with them had John suppressing a smirk. Yeah, this was going to be interesting, he was sure.

As soon as the all clear came through, John started up the ramp. He honestly had no idea what to expect. He'd promised himself he would go with the flow, but as he was faced with the shimmering surface he had to know. Turning to the lieutenant next to him, he asked, “What's it feel like?”

The man's expression grew dead serious. “It hurts like hell, sir.” For three seconds, John couldn't breathe, then the young man's lips morphed into a full blown grin as he cried out, “Woohoooo!” and leapt backwards through the gate.

John stood for a moment, unsure what had just happened. Rallying himself, he muttered, “Right. Piece of cake, John. Isn't that what McKay said? Just take a step and walk on through. Next thing you know, you're on Atlantis.” So, taking a deep breath and screwing his eyes closed tight, that was exactly what he did.

The instant John stepped foot on the city, he felt it. There was something here. A sense of 'home' washed over him in such a profound way that John couldn't recall ever feeling it before in his life. The place had minimal light, almost as if it were in sleep-mode. Casting his flashlight around, he was in awe. There wasn't much he could see yet, but he could  _ feel _ it – whatever 'it' was. Glancing around, he couldn't tell whether anyone else had experienced the same as he had, but he didn't think so.

“Secure the immediate area,” Sumner ordered, indicating who he expected to go where.

Slowly moving toward the steps opposite the gate, John noticed people going off to check out the corridors that branched from the room. Everything was still as dimly lit as when they'd arrived, until John took his first step on the stairs. It lit up, as did each subsequent one, with panels along the walls coming to life as well. John had the uncanny feeling it had something to do with him.

“Huh.”

John glanced over his shoulder at the sound and smiled when he saw that Rodney was right behind him. “The lights are coming on by themselves,” John murmured. Continuing forward, more and more lights switched on and not just where John was, either. He could see the areas come to life around a few of the others he'd been told had the gene, too.

Rodney peered down and then nodded, first to himself, then to John, who barely caught the whispered, “Stupid genes.”

John paced along the edge of the room, always keeping the gate in his sights, while Rodney rummaged around behind him, clearing the consoles. John couldn't help but be amazed at the sheer amount of  _ stuff _ that came through the gate. Several pallets had already come through, and still they kept coming. So did the people. The room was filling up rapidly, and from John's estimation they were nowhere near done. He had his orders, though. As much as he would have liked to go down to help, he'd been told to secure this area after all.

Finally, after a good half hour, the steady stream of goods and people dwindled, and once the last person was through, Elizabeth contacted the SGC and told them to cut power to the gate, which they did, but not before General O'Neill sent through a large bottle of champagne. John could definitely appreciate the sentiment behind that.

John shared a look with Elizabeth, who nodded in understanding. They were well and truly on their own now, no turning back.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

They stepped through the gate side-by-side a full ten-count after the major had gone through. Ioan's eyes widened as he stepped onto the city. “Do you-?” he asked Evan without stopping the sweep he'd already begun.

Clearing his throat, Evan nodded. “Yeah, it's... weird, but... not. Isn't it?”

The brothers shared a glance that spoke volumes, both of them aware that there was something about this place that neither could understand. Yet they each knew in their bones that they'd made the right call in joining the expedition.

“You two, help sort everyone as they come through the gate and clear the immediate area,” Sumner ordered.

“Yes, sir,” Ioan and Evan echoed, turning to do as ordered. Ioan tried to pay close attention to the faces of his fellow expedition members, and he thought he could tell who had the gene and who didn't by their reactions alone. Some had a more visceral response than others, he noticed. He couldn't help but wonder what it was about Atlantis that affected everyone so - what it all meant.

“I don't know, Ioan,” Evan said as if reading his mind. “But I'm sure they'll figure it out.”

When Kimberly and Miko stepped through, pushing a large cart in front of them, Ioan asked quietly, “Do either of you feel anything?”

Kimberly shook her head, but Miko's eyes widened even further than they already were as she nodded, her voice barely a whisper. “Yes. I sense something. Not sure what, but... I have not felt peace like this in many years.”

Peace. That seemed as apt a description as Ioan could think of. They didn't have a chance to talk more as additional people came through the gate who needed his attention, so he firmly pushed any further thoughts on the matter aside as he focused on the task at hand.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Rodney felt like a lifetime of Christmases had arrived all at once as he slowly worked his way through figuring out what was what in what he had dubbed the control room. He made sure to keep his com open, so he had a steady stream of reports coming in from all over Atlantis – or at least as far as they'd been able to get to. The city was huge! And the things that were being reported made Rodney's blood rush. Spaceships. Various labs. Tech he didn't even have a  _ name _ for yet! Oh, but he was itching to get his hands on it all. To discover Atlantis' innermost secrets.

He finally managed to hook up his laptop to a console and had just called up some stats when Carson called him to tell him about the holo-room he'd discovered. “You have to see this, Rodney. It appears to be the history of the Ancients,” came Carson's voice in his earpiece.

“I'll be there as soon as I get Dr. Weir. I'm sure she'd like to see it, too.” Closing the com-line to Carson, Rodney took one last glance at his screen, frowning. “Huh, interesting.” Shaking his head, he went to find Elizabeth.

Spotting his quarry, Rodney called out, “Colonel, Dr. Weir-”

“We're underwater,” John said, awed.

“Yes, I, uh, I was just coming to tell you. Fortunately there's some sort of a forcefield holding back the...” Rodney looked up as he came level with the major and paused, stunned. “The water,” he finished lamely. “Boy that is impressive, isn't it?” he muttered, gazing out into the vast ocean.

John nodded, and for a moment they all simply stood in quiet contemplation. After a minute, Rodney shook himself. “Err... Dr. Beckett has found something you should see.”

Rodney almost wished they could have remained at the window a while longer, but there was so much to see, so much to discover. When they arrived at the holo-room, Carson was already playing the recording. They watched the thing play out and Rodney felt a little queasy. He had a sinking feeling that these Wraith were no joke if they sent the Ancients running with their tail between their legs.

Carson had just started a third run through of the recording when Grodin entered the room and whispered in Rodney's ear. “Power levels are dropping rapidly. Part of the shield's just collapsed and sensors are picking up several areas with flooding.”

Crap, that was decidedly not good news.


	5. Chapter 5

“The M.A.L.P. reads full viability, and no immediate signs of activity around the stargate but it's pitch black.” Dr. Grodin read off the data on his pad as it came in.

Sumner took in his men, his jaw tightening as Sheppard joined his team. Glancing up to the balcony at Dr. Weir, he suppressed his desire to go up and give her his opinion. How  _ dare _ she interfere with  _ his _ command! Giving her a look that plainly said,  _ 'Are you kidding, lady?' _ he could only sigh at the look of determination she gave him in return.

If the situation weren't as dire as it was, he would have taken the time to argue his case, but as things stood, he had little choice. Atlantis was running out of time and they needed to find a safe planet to evacuate to before the city’s shields failed. Sumner would just have to grin and bear Sheppard’s presence for now. There really was no time to argue the matter. Accepting the G.D.O. from Dr. Grodin, Sumner turned to his men and barked, “Let's move out!” and stepped through the gate.

Once on the other side, everyone got into formation and even Sheppard fell into line. The area was clear, so he ordered his men to fan out in search of civilization. A few minutes after they had started, a commotion at the end of the line got his attention. Making his way over, Sumner bit back a growl. Sheppard. Of course. Casting a dismissive glance over the spectacle in front of him – two small boys and one adult male all but cowering in front of the major and Lieutenant Ford – he asked sarcastically, “Everything okay here, Sheppard?”

“Yes, sir. Just a couple of kids.”

Lowering his weapon, Sumner sighed. Yeah, he was sincerely going to regret having to deal with the major. He could feel it in his bones. When the man who'd been protecting the children got to his feet and seemed to loom over Sumner, he automatically raised his weapon to the man. He didn't much care for it when people towered over him. Not that Sumner was short by any standard, but still.

“Halling,” the man said to Sheppard. 

Sheppard looked confused as he replied, “I don't know what that means.”

It took everything Sumner had in him not to roll his eyes as he said incredulously, “That's his  _ name _ .”

“Oh. Halling. It's nice to meet you.”

“Are you here to trade?” Halling asked.

Sheppard nodded and, sounding more and more like an idiot in Sumner's estimation, replied, “Trade. Yes. We're... we're traders.”

Nodding, the man turned his attention to the boy next to him and knelt down so he was eye level with him. “How many times have I told you not to play in the woods after dark?” Sighing, he touched his forehead to the boy's and added, “I'm just glad you're safe.” Getting to his feet again, Halling looked at Sheppard once more – and wasn't that just terrific – and said, “Teyla will wish to meet with you. Come.”

Halling placed a hand on the boy's shoulder and together they guided the team to a camp nearby. Barking out orders for two of his men to stay by the gate and contact Dr. Weir, Sumner sorted the rest of his men back into formation. The entire time they were walking, Sumner stewed over the situation. He wasn't best pleased with what he'd seen so far of Sheppard's abilities and it just confirmed his opinion on the man.

As they walked, Ford approached him. “If you don't mind my asking, sir. I noticed you had a problem with Major Sheppard.”

Glancing briefly over his shoulder at the man in question, Sumner turned to Ford and said, “I have a problem with his record. I don't like anybody that doesn't follow the proper chain of command.” Sumner hoped the young lieutenant would take that to heart. He had a lot of potential, but was impressionable still and he didn't really want to have Sheppard be a bad influence on the kid.

Ford looked back toward Sheppard. “Yes, sir.”

Good, he'd gotten the message. Shifting his attention back to his surroundings, Sumner's mouth tightened. The camp they were approaching was primitive at best. What little he could see of it showed absolutely no sign of technology, which wasn't a good thing in his estimation.

Halling escorted them inside a tent and Sumner suppressed a sigh. Yep, primitive and of no use to him or his people. As Halling let the woman know they wished to trade, Sheppard pulled his night vision goggles off and ran his fingers through his hair in a disarming fashion. “Oh, it's... it's nice to meet you.”

Sumner stifled a snort at the image of a schoolboy taking off his cap in church came to mind. As the woman introduced herself as Teyla Emmagan, daughter of Tagan, Sumner took on introductions of him and his team. He couldn't see how this diminutive tribal woman could be of any help, so he didn't feel the need to be anything but direct. Then again, he was rarely anything but, anyway. “We have very few, specific needs-,” he started.

“We do not trade with strangers,” Teyla cut in empirically.

“Is that a fact?” Sumner muttered, reassessing her.

“Well... then we'll just have to, err... we'll have to get to know each other,” Sheppard said, offering her a charming smile. “Me, I like ferris wheels, college football, anything that goes over two hundred miles per hour.”

Sumner gave him an incredulous look even as Ford leaned into Sheppard and whispered, “Sir, that isn't going to mean anything to them.”

Sheppard muttered from the corner of his mouth, “Feel free to speak up, I'm just trying to break the ice.”

Raising a brow, Sumner had to hand it to Sheppard, still he had a job to do. “These people can't help us and I'd really rather not waste the time,” he said softly.

Before Sheppard could reply, Teyla spoke up. “Each morning before dawn, our people drink a stout tea to brace us for the coming day. Will you join us?”

Sheppard smirked and stepped forward. “I love a good cup of tea. Now you know something else about me. See? We're practically friends already.”

Sumner's lips twitched as he watched the interaction between the major and Teyla. Perhaps there  _ was _ more to Sheppard than he'd initially thought. He'd warmed the woman up to them much faster than Sumner had believed possible. Away missions never went quite as smoothly in his opinion, but to Sheppard it seemed... easy. Maybe there was hope for the man yet.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Attention all personnel. This is Dr. Weir. As you may be aware, power levels are dropping and the shield is failing. We are going to have to abandon the city as soon as we possibly can. When Colonel Sumner reports he has found a safe place, I need each and every one of you to sort out quickly and quietly.”

Evan and Ioan exchanged ominous looks before turning to the balcony as one. Dr. Weir beckoned them upstairs and they double timed it. “Gentlemen. I'm going to need your help. Major Lorne, with Colonel Sumner and Major Sheppard gone, you're next in line for command of the military contingent. We need to organize an evacuation, and we need to do it fast.” With a glance to Dr. McKay and Grodin, Elizabeth added, “Dr. McKay and his team are doing everything they can to minimize power usage and to boost what power Atlantis has with our generators, but I'm afraid it isn't enough. I'm counting on you, Major.”

Evan nodded. “Yes ma'am. We're on it.”

The brothers saluted her, then headed back to the gate room where Evan began barking out orders to sort through and gather the essentials for survival. Crazy as it was, considering they had spent so much time preparing and gathering 'essentials' prior to coming to Atlantis, he knew they would have to pare down even further. They might not have time to get everything through, after all, and people would be the most important.

Evan noticed Ioan talking to a couple of people who Evan thought were part of the medical team. He recognized Carson as well as a few of the nurses, but the young man with dark hair and a ready smile that stood next to Ioan he was unfamiliar with. Shaking his head, he scolded himself. Now was not the time to worry about who was who, or for checking anyone out, no matter how attractive they were.

A few hours later, but still faster than he would have believed possible, Evan had everything that was deemed absolutely essential set close to the gate for immediate evac, and he had sorted personnel in groups nearby. Everyone had been given specific orders on what to take and when.

The city was experiencing frequent tremors as more and more of the shield collapsed and people were starting to panic. Evan had to set a couple of Marines on guard duty to make sure everyone kept their cool. He noticed that Carson had put several of his people on standby as well, which Evan was grateful for.

Kate Heightmeyer was walking around, offering words of comfort and reassurance everywhere she went. When she reached Evan, she smiled at him and patted his arm. “How are you holding up?”

Evan gave her a tight smile in return and tried to look self assured. “Better than most, I guess.” It wouldn't do to seem frightened, after all. He was in charge and people looked up to him.

Kate seemed to get that as she nodded. “If there's anything I can do, let me know, alright?” she said sotto voce.

“Thanks, Kate,” Evan murmured.

As she moved on, Evan walked over to Ioan who was talking quietly with the young woman he'd pointed out to him, and Miko. “Hey, Ioan. Everything okay here?”

“Yeah, Ev, we're fine,” Ioan assured.

Turning to the women, Evan smiled with as much confidence as he could muster. “Dr. Kusanagi, Dr. Smyth.”

Kimberly grinned. “Kimberly, Evan. How many times do I have to remind you?”

Evan chuckled. “Kimberly, then. Not causing any trouble with this one, are you?” he said, jutting his thumb at Ioan, who smacked his shoulder in retaliation.

“Wouldn't dream of it, Major. I-,” she started jokingly, but cut off when the city shook violently.

“Attention all personnel,” Dr. Weir radioed, “prepare for immediate evac!”

Evan looked up to the control room and saw McKay trying to dial out, but before he could establish a connection, the stargate engaged.“We've got an incoming wormhole!” Rodney said, stunned.

Excusing himself, Evan hurried up the stairs just in time to hear Grodin say, “I'm reading Lieutenant Ford's identification code.”

“Let him in!” Elizabeth shared a hopeful look with Evan, who sent up a quick prayer that it was good news.

Evan headed back down the stairs in case he needed to help, but faltered in his steps when he saw a slew of indigenous people come through after Major Sheppard. Elizabeth came running down the stairs, demanding to know who they were.

“Survivors from the settlement,” John said. “We were attacked. Sumner and some of our men got taken.” Frowning, he looked around as the city trembled again. “What's going on?”

Beckoning Ioan over to help rally the new arrivals so they were out of the way, Evan suppressed a sigh at the news. He couldn't help but think they'd gotten out of the fryer and into the fire. He was vaguely aware of Elizabeth and John arguing, but Evan was too busy trying to calm everyone. Many of the refugees John had brought along appeared to be in shock, while some were excited and in awe of the new surroundings.

Then the city began to shake worse than it had up till that point and things began to come crashing down, sending people sprawling and scrambling for cover. Evan could hear cries of pain from several directions and people crying out in terror. It was all he could do to keep it together himself. Clasping Ioan's arm, he focused on keeping his little brother safe and pushed thoughts of drowning and of hurting their family as far away as they would go.

 


	6. Chapter 6

Peering at his screen, Rodney was still coming down of the adrenaline rush from having the shields collapse and the city rise to the surface. Of all the possible outcomes he'd come up with, that had not been one of them, but he was more than happy to be wrong just this once. Elizabeth had wanted another day in the city and now they had however long they wanted as far as he could determine.

All around him people were starting to organize. Now that the imminent danger was over, they could begin settling in for the long haul. He paid no mind to all the goings on, though. He was too busy trying to figure out their status.

With a sigh, he straightened when Elizabeth approached him. “The last zero point module is depleted, but limited power has returned now that our generators aren't going to hold back an ocean. Life support systems are working but the planet's atmosphere is breathable. Notwithstanding the inevitable allergens,” he added with a slight grimace.

“So... now can our naquadah generators supply enough power to the shield for defensive purposes?” Elizabeth asked hopefully.

“Not even close,” Rodney said dryly.

“On the surface without a shield? We're target practice,” Sheppard supplied, frowning in displeasure.

“I'm acutely aware of that, Major, but thank you for reinforcing it.” Rodney couldn’t keep the sarcasm from his voice even if he'd been willing to try. What was it about these military men and always stating the obvious? He'd thought the major might be cut from better cloth than he was used to dealing with, after their time in Antarctica, but maybe he was wrong.

Taking a steadying breath, the major stepped up to Rodney. “When can you tell me where the Wraith took Colonel Sumner and the others?” The calmness with which he spoke had a hint of danger to it.

Rodney gave the major a patronizing look as he explained, “Even with the six symbols Lieutenant Ford provided, there are still hundreds of permutations.”

With a level look, Sheppard cut him off. “Seven hundred and twenty.”

Rodney blinked, momentarily stunned into silence. “Yes,” he finally managed. At Sheppard's head tilt that clearly said,  _ Well there you go then _ , Rodney continued. “I knew that of course.” Clearing his throat lightly, he added, “I'm just surprised you did.” He really hoped he wasn't blushing because the fact that Sheppard had so readily supplied that number was more of a turn on for Rodney than he'd ever readily admit to.

Sheppard didn't seem to notice, though. “Take away the coordinates you can't get a lock on and that's your one. And when you find it, send a M.A.L.P.”

Rodney's mouth worked silently but, unable to think of a worthy response, he walked away to do as ordered. And since when did he follow orders so easily? He was vaguely aware of Elizabeth taking Sheppard aside, but Rodney was already too focused on his task to pay them any heed.

It took him a lot longer than he would have liked to hit the right address. By the time he had the M.A.L.P. ready to go, both Elizabeth and Sheppard were in the control room. “Go ahead, Rodney,” Elizabeth said.

Sending the M.A.L.P. through the event horizon, Rodney held his breath. He knew that whatever findings it came back with, people's lives would depend on it. The disappointment that washed over him when the readings came back with no atmosphere was visceral. The confirmation that the machine had been sent through a space gate – and since when did those exist? – hit home when first the planet and then the gate itself spiraled into view.

“Well there goes that M.A.L.P.,” Rodney muttered.

“It's in space,” Sheppard said, nonplussed.

“You sure this is the right address?” Elizabeth hedged, hopeful there was still a chance.

Rodney nodded. “It's the only one we could get a lock on,” he replied bitterly.

Elizabeth sighed. “Very well. Shut it down.” Passing by the major, she paused. “Sorry.”

Sheppard grimaced, giving her a curt nod.

Annoyed as Rodney was about the loss of a perfectly good piece of equipment, he was more put out by not being able to give Sheppard the one thing he would need for Elizabeth to greenlight a rescue. And then it hit him. Snapping his fingers a couple of times, he straightened from his console and turned to the man. “Come with me, Major.”

He didn't wait to see if the man followed, Rodney simply walked off. Neither of them spoke until they hit the small aircraft hangar. “I remembered someone reporting finding these before the whole shield thing happened.”

They stood at the entrance, taking a moment to take in the scope of what they were seeing. There were several spaceships parked in the area, and the bay itself lit up as Sheppard moved forward. When they got to the nearest ship, Rodney indicated where to open it and they stepped inside. Rodney firmly squashed the irritation at the tech coming to life for the major. Now was so not the time to be focused on that.

Sheppard moved to the front of the ship, looking intrigued.

“Think you can fly it?” Rodney asked.

Glancing over his shoulder, Sheppard gave him a half-grin. “Why don't we find out?”

Which is how Rodney found himself sitting in the co-pilot's seat as the major attempted to get the ship airborne. It took him a couple of attempts before he was satisfied he wouldn't crash it into anything, and the entire time Rodney was equal parts thrilled and horrified as they made a tight circle in the bay.

“You did good, McKay. This ought to bring Dr. Weir around,” Sheppard said firmly.

Clearing his throat, Rodney nodded. “I'll go get her, shall I?” he ventured. At the man's nod, Rodney hurried back to Elizabeth's office. When he finally got there, out of breath from both running and excitement, he wanted to smack himself. Why hadn't he simply thought to page her on the coms and have her meet them in the bay? Ah well, too late now, so he might as well get on with it.

As they walked, he explained what they'd discovered. Elizabeth still seemed uncertain about the prospect of mounting a rescue, and it didn't help matters when they entered the bay with no major or ship in sight – or rather, the vessel they had taken for a spin. It was just gone. There was an odd humming that hadn't been there before, however.

“What is that noise?” Elizabeth asked, looking around for the source.

“I don't get it, he was right here,” Rodney exclaimed, confused. “Major?!” When the ship decloaked behind him, Rodney turned in shock and before he could think better on it, waved stupidly, feeling ridiculous.

“You wanted a technical advantage,” came Sheppard's voice over the coms.

Elizabeth seemed impressed, as well as reluctant. “Alright. So you can fly this thing. That doesn't mean you can pull off a rescue.”

“Doctor,” Sheppard said firmly. “This is why you brought me here.”

Was it getting warm in here, Rodney wondered as he took in the absolute confidence of the man in the cockpit. He couldn't put a finger on exactly why, but in that moment he fully believed Major Sheppard to be capable of just about anything he set his mind to.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

John tried to familiarize himself with the console while he waited for the rescue team to settle in behind him. Ford took a seat next to him, looking more like a kid being allowed on his first carnival ride than a Marine about to head out to cause trouble.

“Alright, gateship-1, ready to go,” Ford said with a huge grin.

Shooting him an incredulous look, John wondered who had thought up that ridiculous name. “Gateship-1? A little puddlejumper like this?” he scoffed.

“It's a ship that goes through the gate,” Ford defended. “Gateship-1,” he said, as if that settled the matter.

“Oh no, no, no. That's all wrong,” John said, smirking and shaking his head. Did these people know  _ nothing _ about naming a ship? It was obvious to John that the lieutenant had never piloted a ship before.

“Dr. McKay thought it was cool,” Ford said with a hint of petulance in his voice.

“Oh,” John muttered. That certainly explained some of it. Suppressing a grin, he added, “Okay, well it's official.” Ford nodded as if he'd gotten his way, but his smirk vanished when John continued, “You don't get to name anything.  _ Ever. _ ”

Switching on the coms to the control room, John said smoothly, “Flight, this is puddlejumper,” shooting an amused look at the man next to him he added, “We're go for launch.”

John bit his lip as Rodney's voice came over the com. “Err, this is flight. I thought we were going with gateship?”

“Negative, flight.” He definitely enjoyed messing with the man a little too much for his own good.

“Standby.”

John could well imagine Rodney's reaction just from how he'd sounded, but he still wished he could have seen his face. When Rodney came back, John could hear the annoyed capitulation in his voice. “Fine. Puddlejumper you are clear for launch.”

John nodded. “Dial it up, Lieutenant.” It was go-time.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

If John were completely honest with himself, he would admit that the longer he and Ford walked around the Hive ship, the more unsettled he became. Things had been eerily quiet from the moment he had landed the puddlejumper on the planet, and that just didn't bode well. To put it in terms his brother used to say: his spidey sense was tingling.

A single Wraith passing near them was all the life they'd come across so far and apparently, Ford was of like mind. “I thought getting in was going to be the hard part, but that's the first one we've seen,” he said, planting C-4.

John wasn't naïve enough to believe that things could ever be this easy, however, so he remained vigilant as they moved ever inward in search of their quarry. Pulling out the handheld device the jumper had spit out, he looked at the screen. “Moving dot should be him,” he mused. Just to make sure, he ordered Ford to walk a few paces in the opposite direction. “Yeah, that's you.”

“So,” Ford said with a smirk, “we got ourselves a lifesigns detector.”

Suppressing a sigh, as well as an eyeroll, John murmured, “We can name it  _ later _ .” Taking another look at the screen, he chose a path and headed out, hoping to find the right dots.

After a few minutes, a cluster of them appeared and before he could see them, he heard Teyla whisper, “Major?”

“Shh!” Creeping up to the enclosure, John did a quick headcount. “Are you alright?”

“How did you find us?” Teyla asked, seeming uncertain he was truly there.

Halling was right on her heels with, “Is my son alive?” He looked both hopeful and fearful of John's answer.

Giving him a quick reassuring smile, John said, “He's well and waiting for you.” Halling heaved a sigh of relief. Scanning the cell once more, John frowned and turned to Bates. “Where's Colonel Sumner?”

Grimacing, the man replied, “He was taken by the Wraith.”

Teyla added, “We do not know where.”

“Well, how about when?” John's sense of foreboding had increased in leaps and bounds at the news.

A tiny spark of hope returned at Teyla's, “Not long.”

Contacting Stackhouse, he ordered them to create a diversion. He wasn't sure what he might be able to do, but John knew he had to at least try to get Sumner out. He hadn't come all this way just to leave the man behind. Turning to Ford, he ordered, “I want you to plant more C-4, and in about twenty I want you to blow a hole in these cells and get these people  _ out _ . I should be able to find the colonel with this,” he added, holding up the handheld device. He refused on principle to think of it as a lifesign detector just yet. “There aren't that many Wraith around.”

Ford's jaw clenched. “You're the only one that can fly us out of here, Major.”

“I know. And I'll fly us  _ all _ out of here, including the colonel,” John assured with more confidence than he actually felt.

“I'm saying I should be the one to go, sir.”

John had to hand it to the lieutenant, he had a point. But like the man said, John was the only one who could fly them out and therefore also the only one that could operate the device, which left him few options. “Twenty minutes, I'll find him,” he repeated before starting off, trusting Ford to follow his orders.

This place was a freaking maze. So many twists and turns it was all John could do to keep track of them so he would be able to find his way back. Still, he had yet to come across another lifesign, which was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because it meant no other Wraith. A curse because he had yet to locate Sumner.

Suddenly, the silence was shattered by a piercing scream that John instinctively knew was Sumner's. Keeping one eye on the screen, he followed the sound until he could go no farther. The sound was ahead and below him, so he went to all fours and crawled to a small space to peer down. What he saw made his breath catch. Some tall woman was doing something to the colonel's chest and Sumner appeared to be aging right in front of his eyes!

He had no idea how it was happening, but he had to do something to stop her killing the colonel. He put three bullets through her back, and immediately followed by killing one of the other Wraith in the room with them. The female let out a shriek. John had to duck for cover as a third Wraith fired an energy weapon of some sort at him.

When he turned back and shot again, he paused, unable to believe his eyes. The female was standing, not a wound in sight, and Colonel Sumner was all but a living husk. Sumner stared John right in the eye with a look that said quite plainly:  _ Shoot me. End this already. Please. _ John knew that look. Had seen it on several occasions in the field, but had up until now never had to act on it. He'd always persevered and managed to get the other person to safety – or they had been killed by someone else before he could think twice about the matter.

Not this time, however. This time, John knew it was up to him to end Sumner's suffering. He knew it, he understood it, and it filled his gut with dread. Still, there was no other choice to make. Sumner was as good as dead already and not taking the shot just meant prolonging his pain. Steeling himself, John took his time to get the shot right, and with a nod, fired, aiming at the hand on Sumner's chest. “I'm sorry,” John muttered under his breath as he watched the man collapse in a heap.

John stared in disbelief as the female Wraith glared up at him, acting for all the world like the wound on her hand was of no matter. He had a split-second to wonder about the look of triumph that crossed her face before his world went black.

When he came to, he was propped up against a table, being held in place by one of the Wraith guards. Out of the corner of his eye, John saw the female approach. “How's the hand feeling?”

She turned her hand as if to inspect it, then grinned at him. “Much. Better,” she gloated.

Well, damn. “Sorry to hear that.” And he truly was. He had put four bullets in her and none of them seemed to have done her any lasting damage. He couldn't help but wonder what it would take for her to die.

As he lay there trying to think of a way out of this mess, the female paused and began rummaging through his tac vest. Taking out the handheld device she examined it carefully with a look of disbelief, then demanded, “How did this come to you?”

“I don't remember,” he tried, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of an answer. The guard thumped his head against the table in retaliation. Yeah, that was definitely unpleasant, and that thing was much stronger than it looked. John was sure he was in some serious trouble here.

Just when the female raised her hand to attack him, John heard gunfire and one of the guards went down, soon followed by the one that was pinning him down. As soon as he was free, he clicked his radio, rolling off the table as he shouted, “Light it up!”

He grinned in satisfaction at the sound of multiple explosions. The female began to shriek at top volume, sounding the alarm. John scrambled to his feet, grabbing the weapon of the fallen guard. It looked spear-like, and he figured if bullets didn't damage her, maybe that might. Rushing her, he jammed it right through her chest where a human's heart would be. “That has to kill you,” he grunted as she gurgled in shock.

She slid to the floor when he pulled the weapon from her. Keeping his eyes on her, he asked Ford, “How'd you find me?”

“Treadmarks, standard issue. Sir, let's go!” Ford looked around uneasily.

John glanced at him, impressed. He was about to compliment the lieutenant on his tracking skills when the female rasped, “You don't know what you have done. We are merely the caretakers for those that sleep.When I die, the others will awaken.  _ All _ of them.” A smile formed on her lips as she passed away.

Swallowing hard, John turned to the table and grabbed the device. “What's she talking about?” Ford asked as John glanced at the screen. “How many are left?”

The screen started to fill with dots so quickly, it was hard to tell them apart. It felt as if a stone had landed in his gut as John looked up at the ceiling which began to light up. What he saw there, filled him with trepidation. Writhing forms, all waking up, and they would be after them all. Ford handed him a gun. “Sir, we need to leave.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Checking Kate's chart, Mac smiled at her. “You'll be right as rain in a couple of days,” he assured. “Though unfortunately you're going to have to miss the party.”

Chuckling, Kate winced, holding a hand to her head. “So are you, doctor. The first one on Atlantis.”

Mac shrugged, eyes roaming the rest of his patients – a few of his expedition members as well as a couple of Athosians that had been injured either during the attack on Athos or the surfacing of the city. Turning back to Kate, he grinned. “I'm sure there'll be plenty of others. And Carson promised he'd have some food and drink sent up for everyone here in a few, so we won't lose out completely.”

“Small comfort,” Kate murmured, “but one I'll happily take, all things considered.” She adjusted her position in the bed, wincing once more.

“You lie back now,” Mac admonished. “You have a minor concussion as well as severe bruising. You're lucky you didn't get hurt worse than you did, so don't go aggravating things.”

“Yes, sir.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Teyla watched her people with fondness as they mingled with the Lanteans. She had believed she would never see them again after she had been captured by the Wraith. To be with them now, to see Halling reunited with his son, it filled Teyla with hope. Hope was a new emotion for her. Determination. Loyalty. Love. Fear. Those she was well familiar with, but hope she had never before dared express. Thanks to Major Sheppard and his people, she felt she finally could.

She saw a chance to stand up to the Wraith. To maybe do more than that, even. These people around her, who had welcomed them with open arms even though they didn't know one another, had weapons and knowledge no one she knew possessed. Surely that had to mean things were about to change, and for the better. She needed to believe that. For her own sake as well as that of her people. They had lost their home, but perhaps they would no longer lose any of their friends and families.

Even as she thought about all of this, she observed the Lanteans, too. Noting several instances where people kept circling back to a specific person. A look that lingered just a little longer than normal. A casual touch. It made her smile, as well as wonder what their relationships were. How much they differed from her own society. 

Behind her, she could hear Dr. Weir and Major Sheppard speak. Her heart ached for him when he said, “I still have to live with it,” when Dr. Weir reminded him he could not have saved his colonel. She agreed wholeheartedly with her assessment. She knew all too well the treatment a human received at the hands of a Wraith, and she was all too aware there was no cure for being fed on by them.

“I'm beginning to think you were right,” Major Sheppard continued, sounding morose. “I have made things much worse. And I haven't exactly made us many more friends out here.”

Turning, Teyla watched as Dr. Weir took in the people gathered there. “No? Look around you,” she said, smiling warmly.

Teyla walked over to them. “I agree, Major Sheppard.” Placing her hands on his shoulders, she leaned forward. After a moment's hesitation, the major met her halfway and completed the Athosian greeting of friendship. Smiling up at him, she said sincerely, “You have earned both  _ my _ friendship, and that of my people. With our help you will make many more friends.”

She meant that, too. She would do whatever she could to help these new friends. Not just because she felt she owed them, but because it was the right thing to do.


	7. Chapter 7

“Where do you want this, doc?” Ioan asked, trying his best not to drop the heavy box filled with equipment. Williams grunted as he shifted his end of it.

Radek and Mac both turned to the soldiers, unsure who was being addressed. “Ah, yes, yes,” Radek muttered. “Please, put over there, Lieutenant. Next to kettle. Careful please, so as not to break beakers, yes?”

Ioan grinned as they did as directed. He rather liked the little Czech man. “So, doc, how'd you convince the higher ups to okay a distillery?” Ioan asked even as Williams left the room.

Radek grinned mischievously. “Actually, I didn't.”

Mac coughed into his fist, giving Ioan a sly look. “I did. Alcohol is one of the main antiseptics we can produce, after all. There are many applications,” he added seriously.

Barking out a laugh, Ioan shook his head incredulous. “And they bought that?”

Mac chuckled. “General O'Neill did not take much convincing. In fact, he seemed rather miffed he hadn't thought of it himself.”

“Nice. I've always liked him.”

“General O'Neill is good man,” Radek agreed.

“Well, I'm looking forward to seeing what you two manage to do with this thing,” Ioan said, patting the kettle. “Good luck. I better get back to work.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kimberly surveyed the empty space with a critical eye. “You sure this one'll work best, Miko?” she asked her friend. She had to admit the room was large enough to house all the sewing paraphernalia and other craft related things. The light in here was great – as was the view – thanks to an entire wall of windows. They'd already discarded several other areas before finding this one and, in all honesty, Kimberly just wanted to be done.

Miko cast another glance around, then nodded. Her face was alight with pleasure at the prospect of working here. “Hai! It will be perfect. You'll see.”

Smiling, Kimberly chuckled. “You seem pretty eager for this. I didn't realize you were such a seamstress,” she teased.

Miko turned to her wide-eyed. “I learn to sew when all I could find in shops was clothes for young girls. Is hard to find suitable wardrobe if you don't want to wear Hello Kitty.”

Markham, who was walking up behind them pushing a cart with sewing machines and bolts of cloth on it, snorted a laugh. Quickly turning it into a cough, he mumbled, “Sorry.”

Stackhouse, following along with a cart full of tables, laughed at his friend. Shaking his head, he grinned at Miko. “Where would you like these set up, ma'am?”

Kimberly's lips twitched as she fought a smile. She studiously looked out the windows to avoid meeting her friend's eyes. She heard Miko's stifled amusement, though.

“Set up here, and here if you would, and leave the rest against the wall. Will figure it out once we have unpacked everything and start working,” Miko said quietly.

Once the sergeants were done, they left the two women to their own devices. Pushing up her sleeves, Kimberly shot a quick glance at Miko. “You know, I'm actually a little surprised that McKay doesn't have all of us slaving away, trying to figure out every little thing they've discovered so far.” Kimberly was fine with getting the household part of the equation over with as fast as possible, but she couldn't deny wanting to start doing the real work, either. They'd been hard at it for days already, finding places to live, to use as offices, gyms, changing rooms. The list was ongoing but at least they were nearing the end, since this would be one of the last spaces to set up.

Pausing from opening a box, Miko hummed thoughtfully. “I suspect he would, except Dr. Weir has said the tech will be there later and we need to settle in as much as possible first. All we do now is go through everything as we can, organizing as we go. Dr. McKay and Dr. Grodin are busy connecting our computers to the Ancient consoles in the control room and the lab Dr. McKay will be using, and now distillery is set up and running, Dr. Zelenka will help them.”

Kimberly nodded. She knew that, of course, but she had still been surprised by it, knowing how eager Rodney had been to get started. Dr. Weir had a point, though. It was probably a good idea to get things set up as quickly as possible. Who knew what they would need or when, and working out what was where in a crisis situation could prove disastrous. Of course, the same could be said for figuring out all the Ancient technology in the same situation, but they could only do their best.

They worked for a while, sorting through the boxes and getting a couple of sewing machines set up and in working order. They had just maneuvered a small weaving loom – still unassembled – into the spot Miko had picked for it when Ioan knocked on a table to get their attention.

“Hey,” he said, smiling. “How's it going? Did you two need any help with anything?”

Straightening, Kimberly brushed her hair out of her face and smiled. “No, we're good, thanks.”

Ioan looked almost disappointed, she thought. Clearing his throat, he scratched the back of his neck. “Okay. Well... Evan said they had the kitchen all set up and would be serving actual food for lunch rather than MREs. Would you like to grab some?”

Kimberly bit her lip to keep from grinning at the hint of a blush on Ioan's cheeks. She found it far too alluring for her own good, not that she'd admit that to anyone. Well, maybe to a girlfriend after a bottle of wine, but certainly not to anyone else. “Sure. I'd like that.”

He really was cute, she thought as she stared just a beat too long into his eyes. Shaking her head, she turned to Miko. “You hungry?” Without waiting for an answer, she hooked her arm through Miko's and said cheerfully, “C'mon. Any votes on what's being served? I say mashed potatoes with gravy, and Salisbury steak, with jello for dessert.”

As they passed Ioan, who was looking mildly disappointed, she slipped her free arm through his and winked. She chuckled at the transformation on his face as the three of them headed toward what had been dubbed the mess hall.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Later, Carson, I'm busy,” Rodney said, waving him off before Carson had even finished saying hello.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Carson huffed. “I can see that. When's the last time you ate, lad?”

“Ate?” Rodney asked confused, actually having to think about his answer.

“Yes, Rodney, ate. You know, that thing you do where you put food in your mouth and generally chew and swallow in order to nourish your body and avoid going into hypoglycemic shock?” Carson snarked, though there was no real bite to it. He knew his friend too well after all this time. When he got absorbed in his work, everything else was forgotten including his basic needs, which in Rodney's case could lead to dire consequences. It was, after all, why Carson had sought him out in order to make sure Rodney wouldn't end up in the infirmary.

Finally raising his head, Rodney mumbled, “Idon'tremember... I think I had a PowerBar this morning?”

“A PowerBar. Right.” Sighing, Carson grabbed Rodney's shoulder and manhandled his friend out of his office. “Lunch for you, lad. No arguments. Doctor's orders.”

Rodney protested more out of habit than anything else as they walked along the corridor. When Carson didn't relent, Rodney huffed. “Fine, but there better not be anything lemony in sight.”

“I know, Rodney,” Carson said patiently, rolling his eyes.

Snapping his fingers, Rodney suddenly grinned. “Hey, Carson. How is your gene therapy coming along? Are you going to be ready to test it out soon?”

Carson grinned. “Aye, I am, actually. I think I've gotten the right sequence down. It helped to have Major Sheppard's DNA since his ATA is so much stronger. I'm going to try it on the mice this afternoon as a matter of fact,” he said happily, feeling quite pleased with himself. If this worked, then Rodney and his minions wouldn't need to bother him for anything gene-related anymore, which suited Carson just fine. If he never had to sit in a chair like in Antarctica again, it would be too soon for him, and Carson was aware that Atlantis supposedly had one as well.

Rodney rubbed his hands together with glee. “And when it's ready, I go first. Right? That is what we agreed on,” he reminded Carson.

“I know, Rodney. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten.”

When they walked into the mess hall, it was packed. It surprised Carson, though he supposed it shouldn't now that the kitchens were actually functioning and proper meals were being prepared as opposed to what the military deemed fit for human consumption.

Of course, Rodney lamented the lack of MREs, and loudly so. “But I  _ like _ them. I like knowing exactly what's in them. No mystery foods and no surprise lemon.”

Carson had impressed on everyone who would share kitchen duty that there were a few cases of severe allergies among the expedition members. Some of them were already aware of Rodney's extreme reaction to anything citrus, having worked in the mountain prior to sorting to Atlantis. What Rodney probably wasn't aware of was that Carson also had made sure that they had taken citrus free cleaners along, so he was fairly confident that there would be no contamination risks for his friend. “Don't worry, Rodney. No lemons. Now hurry up and get your food, there's a line forming.”

As soon as they both had their mac 'n cheese, broccoli, and chicken, they looked around for a table. Kimberly waved them over. “Carson, Rodney, come sit with us.”

'Us' turned out to be the Lornes, Major Sheppard, Kimberly, and Dr. Kusanagi, leaving only one seat open. Frowning, Carson opened his mouth to object when Major Lorne got to his feet. “Don't worry, doc, I was leaving anyway. Have to get back on duty, so feel free to take my seat,” he said with a smile.

“Ah, well, alright then. Thank you, Major.” Carson's smile widened at the prospect of sharing a table with Miko, then faltered when Rodney took the seat next to Major Sheppard, leaving only the one next to Miko open, with Kimberly opposite Carson.

“C'mon, Carson, before your food gets cold,” cajoled Kimberly with a teasing smile.

Carson glanced at Miko. “Do you mind?” he asked her quietly, his throat suddenly dry. When she shook her head with a shy smile, he took a steadying breath and sat down. “Thank you,” he murmured.

Finding himself tongue-tied, Carson concentrated on his food, though he ended up picking at it more than eating it while the conversations flowed around him. Rodney and the major were discussing Atlantis' technology, while Kimberly and the younger Lorne brother were discussing the aesthetics of the city.

Kimberly kicked Carson under the table, causing him to hiss and grab his shin. Glaring at her, he mouthed, “What was that for?” Kimberly rolled her eyes, nodded pointedly at Miko and returned his glare. He got the message quite plainly:  _ Talk to her! _

Right. He could do that. He could. Taking a drink of water, he gathered his nerve, then turned to Miko. “So how are you enjoying the city so far, Doctor?” Carson flinched. He might as well have asked her about the weather. He was such an idiot sometimes. Still, he couldn't very well take the words back, so he waited for her to answer.

Miko chuckled, her hand covering her mouth. Clearing her throat lightly, she blushed and couldn't quite meet his eyes. “Please, forgive me. I like Atlantis very much. Like I told Ioan our first day, I have not known this sense of peace in many years. Atlantis, she feels like home, does she not?”

Carson couldn't quite help the goofy smile that spread over his lips. “Aye, that she does, lass.”

They made small talk after that, mostly sticking to things related to the city, with everyone participating in the conversation. Half an hour later, Kimberly got to her feet with a sigh. “Suppose we'd better get back to it, too, Miko.”

Miko nodded, then paused as she got to her feet. Leaning in to Carson, she said quietly, “You call me Miko, yes?”

Carson's eyes widened, as did his smile. “Aye. Thank you, lass. If you'll call me Carson.”

“Hai. Have a good day, Carson,” Miko murmured, blushing beautifully.

“You, too,” Carson managed a beat late, staring after her as she and Kimberly left the mess hall. 


	8. Chapter 8

“Hey, McKay. Got a minute?”

Rodney looked up absently to find Sheppard standing in the doorway to his office. Blinking stupidly, he nodded. “Sure, Major. What can I do for you?” Somewhere in the back of his mind, Rodney wondered at his easy acquiescence, since he was rather busy and didn't normally appreciate being interrupted.

Flashing a grin, Sheppard stepped inside and the door closed apparently of its own volition, though more likely the major had thought it closed. When he got to the desk, Sheppard randomly picked up a doodad and muttered, “Huh. Cool, I can hear music in my head.” Shaking his head, he put it down and reached out for something else – a small green thing about the size of his fist - seemingly unable to help himself, but Rodney grabbed his wrist to stop him.

“I'd rather you wait until I've done some more research on these items, Major. You can play lightswitch later. Now, what was it you wanted?” Rodney prodded, only remembering to let go of the man's wrist when John cocked an eyebrow.

“Right. I want you to join my team.”

“You... what?” Rodney frowned in confusion. “What team?”

Rolling his eyes, John huffed. “My gate team? I want you on it.”

“But... why?” For the life of him, Rodney couldn't fathom why the major would ask him of all people. Sure, he was the smartest person here, but he wasn't unaware of his limitations. Gate teams had to deal with unknown and often dangerous situations. They had to be fit, which Rodney most certainly wasn't, and they had to deal with  _ people _ , which Rodney definitely wasn't the best person for. In his entire career at the SGC, he had never been in the field, and he had liked it that way. Hell, up until stepping through the gate to come to Atlantis, he had never even been through a gate at all! Labs were safe, and tech he – mostly – knew how to deal with. Even if it was alien.

Sheppard gave him a level look, then held up his hand and began counting off his reasons. “One, you're the smartest person I know. Two, you are the foremost expert on Ancient technology. Three, because of your previous positions within the SGC and Area-51, you've had the most exposure to alien tech of anyone on this mission. And last, but not least, because  _ I _ feel you would be a good asset to the team.”

With each example, Rodney's heart thumped a little faster. He certainly knew all those things about himself. Well, the first three at any rate. But to hear the major tell him so... it meant something to Rodney. It actually meant a whole hell of a lot, if he were completely honest with himself. No one ever really gave him that kind of credit except himself. Oh, sure, people knew his credentials and made use of them, but to hold it up to him like this? Never mind being asked to do something as important as joining a gate team?

He felt his cheeks heat a little with elation at the prospect of being on Sheppard's team. He couldn't stop the goofy grin, nor unfortunately the somewhat excited if insecure, “Really?”

The fond look Sheppard gave him did funny things to Rodney's stomach. Then again, he  _ had _ skipped lunch today, so maybe he was just experiencing hunger pangs. “Yes, McKay,” John said gently. “Really. What do you say?”

Casting his eyes around his office for inspiration – or an excuse, he wasn't entirely sure which because as thrilled as he was at being asked, he was also a bit frightened – he mumbled, “Well, like you said, I'm the foremost expert on Ancient technology. It would be bad if I got hurt or killed, even. The city wouldn't survive without me,” he blustered. An obvious exaggeration, but all in all not too big of a one in his opinion.

“Do you really think I'd let that happen?” Sheppard looked at him skeptically, and for some reason that same feeling Rodney had had that first day in Pegasus resurfaced. No, the major wouldn't really let anything happen to him, but accidents did happen after all. It wouldn't do to forget that, Rodney figured.

Checking his hip against Rodney's desk, Sheppard crossed his arms and grinned. “C'mon, McKay. Would you really let someone else have the glory of finding us a ZPM?”

And  _ that _ was just unacceptable to Rodney and from the look on the major's face, he knew he had hit his mark. “Alright, fine,” Rodney blustered. “Just so you know, I've never fired a gun in my life.”

Sheppard's grin widened and his eyes seemed to light up. “Don't you worry about that, McKay. We're going to be spending some time on the shooting range to get you qualified. You'll need to at least be able to defend yourself.”

Rodney gaped at the man, unsure of his feelings. In part he was horrified at the idea of having to shoot anyone, but a tiny voice in the back of his head was pointing out that spending time alone with Sheppard would not be a bad thing at all. To Rodney, the man was like an intricate puzzle that just eluded his abilities to solve and if there was one thing he could not stand, it was not knowing something when it was important. Though  _ why _ it was important, Rodney had no idea.

“Right. Okay,” he stammered, gesturing to the chaos that was his desk. “In that case, I'd better get back to work, then.”

Clapping Rodney's shoulder, Sheppard said jovially, “Attaboy, McKay. We'll start tomorrow at oh-eight hundred.”

“That early?” Rodney squawked, eyes wide in shock.

“That late, you mean?” Sheppard teased with a wink. “Better get your beauty sleep, McKay. Don't be late.”

It took Rodney a minute to realize that Sheppard had actually left. Shaking off the stupor he found himself in, he returned to work, only to be interrupted hours later by Carson radioing him. “Rodney, if you still want to be the first to receive the gene therapy, you'll need to stop by my office first thing.”

Straightening so fast he cricked his back, Rodney spluttered, “It's ready? You sure?”

“Aye, Rodney. Now, did you want to be the first or should I go looking-?”

“Of course I'll go first,” Rodney snapped.

“First thing in the morning, then,” Carson piped through his ear, sounding far too amused to Rodney's liking.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“It should be illegal to be up this early,” Rodney groused upon entering the infirmary at half past seven the following morning. “I haven't even had-,” he paused, eyes widening at the mug Carson was holding out for him. “Oh! Coffee! Gimme!” Rodney said, making grabby hands.

Shaking his head, Carson rolled his eyes at his friend. “I know better than to ask you to function before you've had your first cup of coffee, Rodney. Now here, sit,” he said, patting the bed.

Draining the mug, Rodney placed it on the table before hopping up on the bed. Carson cocked an eyebrow and suppressed a grin. “I'm surprised you're so eager to volunteer for this, Rodney,” he said while preparing the syringe.

“Oh, you know me, always eager to help.” Was Carson kidding? Like he would be able to resist the chance to be able to work the Ancient tech himself?

Giving him a skeptical look, Carson tied the tourniquet above Rodney's elbow. “So, did you have any questions about the process? I mean you are a scientist.”

Rodney scoffed. “Er, yeah. I'm sorry, but er, medicine is about as much of a science as, oh, I don't know, voodoo?”

Slapping Rodney's elbow a little harder than Rodney felt completely necessary, Carson said tersely, “Right.”

“All I need to know is that it will enable to me to use Ancient technology like Major Sheppard... or yourself,” Rodney added almost as an afterthought.

“Yes,” Carson agreed amicably. “Hopefully. You are the first human trial.”

That gave Rodney pause. Of course he knew he was the first to be given the therapy, but he hadn't really considered that that meant it hadn't be tried on humans before. “W-why now?” he asked, suddenly feeling uncertain. “I mean, if this is possible, we need as many people with the gene as we can get.”

“Well, actually, without FDA approval it's virtually impossible to-,” Carson trailed off when he noticed the look of discomfort on Rodney's face.

Suddenly, Rodney wasn't at all sure this was such a good idea anymore. Every B-movie he'd ever seen that involved gene manipulation began to play itself out in his head. And when Carson mentioned using a mouse retrovirus to introduce the therapy, Rodney started to feel a little ill. Before he could protest, though, Carson pierced the skin of his elbow and injected the serum into his system.

Wincing, Rodney clenched his fist, surprised to find something in it. He hadn't even realized he had taken it out of his pocket during Carson's little speech.

Carson glanced at what he was holding as he finished up with Rodney. “What's that?”

Tossing the device in his hand, Rodney grinned. It was the same one Sheppard had tried to pick up the day before. After the major had left his office, Rodney had done a little digging and found an entry on the thing in one of the logs from one of the myriad Ancient scientists. As far as he could tell it was sort of like a personal shield, and now that he was going to be part of a gate team, that didn't seem like such a bad thing to have.

“This? Oh, nothing. Just something I found in one of the research labs. Something the Ancients were experimenting with,” Rodney hedged.

Raising his eyebrows, Carson sounded worried when he asked, “Do you know what it is?”

Gazing at the device, Rodney gently stroked its edge with his thumb. “Yeah, I'm pretty sure.” At least, he hoped he was. He  _ really _ hoped he was. Clearing his throat, he sat up a little straighter. “So, how long before we know this worked?”

Carson shrugged as he tidied up. “Eh, it could take some time. Just go about your day and let me know if you notice any changes.”

Pocketing the device, Rodney hopped to his feet. “Will do. Er... I should be safe to go to target practice, right?” 

Looking over his shoulder in surprise, Carson gaped. “Target practice? What do you need target practice for, Rodney?”

Beaming with pride, Rodney bounced on the balls of his feet, his hands clasped behind his back. “Major Sheppard asked me to be a part of his team.”

“You don't say?” Carson replied, seeming pleased. “Aye, Rodney, you should be fine. Just go about your business as usual.” After a pause, he added mischievously, “Remember, Rodney, the barrel of the gun is supposed to point  _ away _ from you.”

“Oh, ha ha,” Rodney scoffed. “Very funny.”

As Rodney headed out the infirmary, Carson called after him. “Be careful, Rodney, and good luck.”

When Rodney arrived at the shooting range, Sheppard was already there. Without taking his attention from checking the guns laid out before him, he muttered, “You're late.”

“Oh, am I? Sorry, I had to stop by Carson's first thing.” Rodney actually blushed, a sinking feeling in his stomach at the thought of having disappointed the major before they had even begun. What if he changed his mind about letting Rodney on the team?

Sheppard abruptly looked up, concern on his face as he inspected Rodney carefully. “Everything alright?”

Grinning, Rodney rocked back and forth. “Oh yes, everything's fine. Well, maybe. Hopefully,” he added when he saw the man's eyebrows try to climb up to his hair. Waving the major's concerns aside, he said with more confidence than he really felt, “The ATA therapy was finally ready, so if you're ignoring the fact that my DNA is being rewritten quite literally as we speak, then yes, I'm perfectly okay.”

Flashing a grin, Sheppard nodded. “Good. You ready?”

“As I'll ever be,” Rodney said, gulping as he wiped his suddenly sweaty palms on his pants.

First, the major walked him through the various guns they would be using on a mission. He showed Rodney how to safely operate each one before he allowed Rodney to take his first shot. They were focusing on handguns for now, leaving the P90 for when he had more experience.

The theory behind everything came easily enough to Rodney. It was the actual holding the gun and having it recoil with every shot that threw him off. Every time he squeezed the trigger, Rodney wanted to shy away from it, which was absolutely the wrong thing to do. Sheppard remained patient throughout, calmly explaining the steps again.

When Rodney still had trouble not flinching with every shot, Sheppard tapped his shoulder and held out a different handgun. “Here. Use this instead.” A questioning look only made the major roll his eyes and point to the target. “Shoot.”

Shaking his head, Rodney sighed, took his stance, and fired - only to nearly drop the gun completely in shock. “What the hell, Sheppard?” Was he playing some kind of joke on him? If so, it was  _ not _ funny! That time had been much worse than the others.

Raising his eyebrows in challenge, John merely pointed to the target again. “Keep firing. Trust me.”

Watching him closely for a while, Rodney weighed his options. He could throw in the towel and for certain lose any hope of actually going on away missions, despite the invitation. Or he could do as Sheppard said and trust that he knew what he was doing. Biting his lip, Rodney quickly ran several scenarios through his head, but all of them resulted in the same. He honestly had no idea why, but he did trust the man in front of him, and trust wasn't something Rodney was known to give easily.

“Okay,” he finally said, gripping the gun and turning back to the target. He fired ten times, only hitting the board twice, and he just could not keep from flinching. Feeling utterly disappointed in himself, he gently put the gun down and scrubbed his face in annoyance. “I'm sorry,” he said when he finally looked Sheppard in the eye. “I'm just no good at this.”

Clasping Rodney's shoulder, Sheppard gave him a reassuring smile. “Sure you are. Or at least, you will be.” Handing him the first gun again, he tilted his head toward the target. “Try again.”

Frowning, Rodney accepted the gun and after taking several deep breaths and casting a dubious look at his teacher, he tried again. And hit center mass of the target, the lesser recoil practically a relief. With a whoop, Rodney flailed his hands, still holding the gun, all but forgotten. “Oh my God! Did you see that? Did you see?!”

With quick, efficient movements, Sheppard grabbed the gun and removed it from Rodney's hands with an admonishing look. “Yeah, McKay. I saw. Great shot.”

Blushing, Rodney started to babble, talking with his hands as much as his mouth like he always did when he got agitated. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. But did you see? I hit it! Right in the chest, and I never thought I'd be able to and then you switched guns on me and the recoil got worse and I reallyreally _ really _ thought I was just going to screw up completely and then you'd never let me go on the team and-.”

“McKay!” Clamping a hand over Rodney's mouth, Sheppard sighed. “Just be careful next time, okay? Guns aren't toys. Now come on. Try again. You have to practice so you can get a perfect shot every time.”

Rodney nodded, wide-eyed. He was mortified that he'd first started waving the gun around and then basically word-vomited all over the major. Though now that he thought about it, the man didn't seem phased in the slightest. In fact, unless Rodney was very much mistaken, he thought he detected a hint of pride in his eyes as he watched Rodney.

Sheppard lifted his hand away slowly and flashed Rodney a grin. “Ready?”

Taking a deep breath, Rodney nodded again. They spent another half hour on the range before calling it quits. Rodney was fairly pleased with himself. He hadn't managed another kill shot as the major called it, but he had hit the target more often than not in the end.

Sheppard smiled as he set about cleaning the guns before putting them away. “You did good, McKay. You keep it up, we'll make a crack shot out of you yet.”

Rodney snorted. He doubted that very much, but he would be happy enough if he could hold his own in the field. He hated the idea of becoming a liability. That reminded him of something. He fished the device out of his pocket and held it in front of him as he thought  _ 'on' _ , just to see if the gene therapy had done anything yet. “Yes!” he cheered, loud enough to make the major jump.

“McKay?”

Grinning, Rodney felt as if he had just been given the best gift ever. He stuck the device to his chest where it remained, glowing faintly. “It worked,” he said triumphantly. “Carson's voodoo actually worked!”

“That's great, McKay.” Sheppard both looked and sounded genuinely pleased for Rodney. “Isn't that that thing I was about to pick up yesterday?” Rodney nodded as John tried to touch it only to be met by a forcefield that caused the area the shimmer with green light. “Whoa... is that-?”

“A personal shield? Yes, yes it is,” Rodney gloated. “Go on. Try to hurt me.”

Frowning in disbelief, Sheppard shrugged, then kicked Rodney in the shin. Or, he tried to. “Ow!” Hopping on one foot, the man scowled at him briefly before the implications sunk in. Then his expression shifted to one of childlike delight as he pulled out his gun. He held it up, silently asking for permission which Rodney gave by virtue of waving him on. Sheppard hesitated a moment, apparently trying to judge where he would do least damage in case things went wrong, then fired at Rodney's leg.

The bullet ricocheted off to the side, embedding itself in the partition. Eyes shining with glee, they grinned at each other and in unison declared, “This is so. Cool!”


	9. Chapter 9

They spent the next few minutes going over all the applications they could think of for the shield. John couldn't believe their luck. If there were more of these things, it could make all the difference for his men out in the field. “Hey, McKay, did you find any others?”

Rodney shook his head, looking dismayed. “No. The log did mention there were several made, but I was only able to locate this one.”

Stuffing his hands in his pockets, John scowled. “Did it mention-?”

“No,” Rodney cut in. “It didn't say anything about where the others might be. They might be somewhere in the city, though. I mean, it isn't like we've managed to explore even an eighth of the place, after all.”

Nodding, John conceded the point and settled on hoping they'd come across them at a later date. Eyeing Rodney, he contemplated what else they could do to test this shield of his. Pulling his knife from its sheath, he held it up, again asking for silent permission which he was granted. Tossing the knife between his hands twice while he thought how best to try, he once again opted for the other man's thigh. It was the safest area he could think of should something go wrong.

Slashing down, he let out a yelp when the knife connected with the shield. Between the resistance of the forcefield and the slight jolt of energy on contact, it was definitely not a pleasant experience for John. Rodney, however, didn't appear to have felt a thing and stood grinning triumphantly at him. “Okay, what next?” Snapping his fingers, he pointed to a chair. “Hit me with that.”

Giving him a skeptical look, John shrugged and did as requested, swinging it with all his might at Rodney's upper back. He dropped the chair on his toes, unable to hold onto the thing once it hit the shield. John's arms weren't too happy either. Frowning, he glanced at McKay. “Anything?”

“Not even a tickle!” Rodney practically giggled with glee.

A tickle. John suddenly grinned as the thought crossed his mind that perhaps the shield was intent-based somehow. Hey, this  _ was _ alien technology, after all. Who knew what the Ancients were capable of.

Rodney took an involuntary step back at the sudden change in John's demeanor as he stepped closer. “Major?” he squawked, holding out his hands reflexively.

John swooped in, intending to tickle the other man's sides, but was thwarted by the forcefield again, though this time there was no shock from the contact.

“Nothing, huh?” John said pensively. Stepping back and scratching the back of his head, he hummed. “I wonder how it'd hold up against a fall?”

Eyes widening, Rodney smirked. “Like from the balcony?” At John's nod, Rodney's grin grew broader. “Let's go!”

They didn't  _ quite _ run up to the gate room balcony, but it was a near thing and several people turned their heads. Ioan even called out after them, “Where's the fire, sir?”

John called back with a grin, “No fire, Lieutenant. Just science.” That was his story and he was sticking to it. So what if John got a kick out of messing around with this shield? Or that watching Rodney get this excited was more enticing to him that it should be.

Still, by the time Rodney and John made it up to the balcony, they had a little bit of a following. Everyone was curious what they were up to. John was sure it had as much to do with the fact that they'd been hurrying through the corridors as it was seeing Rodney this gleeful. John was well aware that Rodney had a reputation of being a bastard, and that he hadn't been much liked in the mountain. Not that John cared about that. He knew better than most that a reputation wasn't always warranted, and that they didn't always sum up the whole of a person.

“You sure about this, McKay?” John asked, his stomach knotting at the thought of this not going as they both thought it would. It was all fun and games until someone broke their neck, after all, and he was getting rather fond of the astrophysicist.

Rodney waved his concerns off, rolling his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he squared his shoulders. “Okay, I'm ready.”

“Okay,” John muttered under his breath as he gave Rodney a shove, sending the man flying backwards over the railing, much to everyone's shock. 

Leaning over to make sure Rodney was alright, John looked up as he caught Elizabeth's, “Oh my God!” from the opposite balcony. 

“Did you  _ see _ that?” John grinned.

“Yes, I saw that,” she bit out. “What the-?”

Below them, Rodney jumped to his feet, throwing his hands up in the air in victory. “I'm fine,” he called up.

The delight on Rodney's face, as well as the proof that he truly was okay, turned the knots in John's stomach to butterflies. At least, that's what it felt like to John. He knew that falling for the guy would mean nothing but trouble considering the regulations, so he did his best to stomp down on his attraction – and there was no denying to himself that he was attracted to Rodney.

John practically skipped down the stairs in his eagerness to congratulate his friend. “Look,” Rodney said, beaming up at Elizabeth and Peter who were on John's heels. “Beckett's gene therapy worked! I was able to activate this,” he added, pointing to his chest. “It's a er, a personal shield. Acts like a protective skin.” Rodney's hands were moving rapidly as he explained the device. “I'm invulnerable. Here, I'll prove it.” Turning to Peter, he grinned. “Hit me.”

Without so much as a second's thought, Grodin took a swing at Rodney with what would have been a right hook hard enough to knock any man on his ass. What happened instead was Peter cried out in pain as he cradled his hand in disbelief, while Rodney merely looked smug. “Well you didn't have to swing so hard.” Glancing at John, he added, “And notice that he didn't even hesitate?”

John grinned and turned his face to try to hide the satisfaction he felt that Grodin was hurt after that. He had definitely taken note of the man's immediate reaction to Rodney and he found it didn't sit well with him. It made him wonder just how poorly people thought of Rodney.

Elizabeth huffed. “I'm still trying to understand why you thought it was a good idea to test that out by having someone throw you off a balcony.”

Rodney and John exchanged knowing looks and Rodney said conspiratorially, “Oh, that wasn't the first thing we tried.” As he explained what they had done prior to the balcony incident, Elizabeth's face turned ashen so John hurriedly pointed out that he had aimed at non-lethal areas. Mostly.

Throwing his arms wide, Rodney beamed. “I'm invulnerable.”

“Aren't you the one who's always spouting off about proper and careful scientific procedure must be adhered to?” Elizabeth asked skeptically.

“In-vul-ne-ra-ble,” Rodney sing-songed, flailing his hands in time.

Shaking her head in disbelief, Elizabeth sighed. “Alright. Take it off. Let's go have this meeting.”

“You're just jealous,” Rodney muttered.

“Oh yes, green with envy,” Elizabeth retorted with a roll of her eyes.

Rodney made to grab at the device but when his hand encountered the shield, his previous look of elation turned to one of dawning horror. “Uh oh. This could be a problem.” When everyone turned to look at him, he cast a panicked glance at John. “I can't get at it.”

Narrowing his eyes, John stepped closer and reached out to try for himself, making sure to put everything he had in thinking 'off' at the device. Nothing. Cold dread settled in John's stomach. “Just checking,” he offered apologetically.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Well, Major, did your team encounter any indigenous life forms on your second trip? I heard your first dalliance in Pegasus was rather eventful,” Mac said jovially as he stepped up to Major Lorne's bed.

The major's team members groaned in unison, while the major's face turned crimson. “C'mon, doc. How did you hear about that?” Lorne asked.

Mac chuckled, placing a cuff on the major's bicep to take his blood pressure. “Word gets around, Major. What can I say? I'm told you were quite the sight. One of the nurses kept the lei you left after your check up and has it hanging in the office.”

“Oh, God,” Lorne moaned under his breath as he closed his eyes. “Please, doc. Don't remind me of that mission. Like, ever.”

One of the major's men chuckled, “Aww come on, sir. Guy like you doesn't have anything to be ashamed of, trust me.” He winked at Mac, who laughed as he eyed the major.

“Stevenson, if you know what's good for you, you will keep your mouth shut or you'll find yourself on KP duty for the next three months. Got it?” Lorne growled.

Mac shivered slightly in response. Casting a sly look at him, Mac grinned. “Don't worry, Major, your secret'll be safe with me,” he said sotto voce.

Lorne appeared nonplussed as he stared at him. “What secret?”

Eyes traveling downward discretely, Mac indicated Lorne's bulge which Mac had noticed becoming a bit of an issue as the conversation had gone on. No doubt, the major was remembering that mission and seemed to mind it less than what he pretended. It made Mac incredibly curious, but he would never ask the man about it, and certainly not in front of his men.

If anything, Lorne's cheeks reddened further, which didn't help Mac in the slightest as far as his own reactions to the man went. For all that this was their first interaction, Mac had paid close attention to the major from the first time he had laid eyes on him back in the mountain. Their paths simply had never crossed before now. Deciding to throw him a lifeline, Mac smiled. “Today's mission went better, then, I take it?”

Sighing in relief, Lorne nodded. “Yeah, doc, it did. Well, in the sense of nothing happening at any rate. Unfortunately it looked like the natives either fled the area recently, or something happened to them, but there was no one around.” After Mac had listened to his heart, Lorne added, “I'm Evan Lorne, by the way. I don't think we've met yet, have we? I'm usually pretty good with faces, but...”

Grinning, Mac straightened up and held out his hand which Lorne took. “Pleasure to meet you, Major. The name's Muiredach MacTavish. Mac, to my friends.”

Lorne's face twisted slightly as he tried futilely to pronounce Mac's name. “Just call me Mac, please, Major,” Mac said amused, squeezing the man's arm.

“Deal, if you'll call me 'Evan' instead of 'Major'.” Evan sounded relieved and pleased, but Mac could tell there was an all too familiar question brewing behind the man's eyes. Sure enough, after they'd gotten through most of the examination, it came. “Muiredach? What kind of a name is that? I've never heard it before.”

With a sigh, Mac settled on the edge of the bed and folded his hands on his lap. “It's an old Irish name that means 'lord', and you could say I was given the name out of an extreme sense of loyalty to country. Which might seem strange, since I'm from Scotland, but my mother was half-Irish and half-Scottish, my father Scottish, and the name Muiredach also is used in Scotland. My mother, God bless her soul, was very proud of our heritage and my parents had moved to London a month before I was born for my father's job - or rather, my Da moved, and my Mum and I followed as soon as we could. Also, I'm their only child, so my mother felt it fitting as I was her 'little lord'.”

Evan let out a low whistle. “Wow, that's... pretty great, actually.”

Mac gave a derisive snort. “Aye, I suppose it is. It just wasn't so grand growing up with a name like that, if you catch my drift.”

Chuckling, Evan scratched his jaw. “Yeah, I suppose you have a point, there. Kids can be cruel.”

“Indeed, they can,” Mac agreed as he got back to his feet and placed a tourniquet on Evan's arm. “Just your blood sample left and you're free to go.”

Evan's jaw twitched as Mac pierced his skin with the needle. “So, doc. Did anything interesting happen while we were gone?”

Mac shot him a knowing look. He knew diversionary tactics when he saw them, and he had to admit that he was amused that the man seemed to have an aversion to having his blood drawn. “Aye, you could say that. Dr. Beckett's ATA therapy had its first human test subject this morning.”

Intrigued, Evan tilted his head. “ATA therapy?”

Grinning, Mac explained about the gene therapy they had devised and that Dr. McKay had received the first dose earlier that day. His smile faltered and was replaced by a frown of worry when he got to the part where McKay had put on a personal shield and now couldn't take it off again. “He was in here just before you arrived, actually.”

“Is he okay?”

“Aye, for the moment at least, but unless we can figure out how to turn off the device soon he'll be in a spot of trouble.” At Evan's querying look, he added, “He can't even eat or drink or anything else if you catch my meaning.”

“Oh! Yeah, that... Hmm.” Evan frowned down at his boots for a bit, then turned his attention back to Mac. “I'm sure they'll figure out something.”

“No doubt,” Mac agreed. “Alright, that's it for you, Major. Until next time.” Mac smiled warmly at Evan, pleased when the other man's cheeks flushed slightly as he nodded and headed off to be debriefed.

A few hours later, Mac was sitting in the office going over some paperwork when there was a knock on the door. Eyes widening in surprise, Mac started to get to his feet. “Evan? What can I do for you?”

Evan waved him off with a small smile, indicating he could remain seated. “Nothing. I stopped by to check on Ford, figured I'd pop my head in and say hello.”

“Ah, yes. The lieutenant'll be fine. Just needs a few days rest and some lotion for his skin. Though the man needs to learn to stay away from energy beings,” Mac teased. It wasn't really a laughing matter, of course. Ford had been extremely fortunate not to have been hurt worse in the encounter. Still, Mac couldn't do anything for it. He felt inordinately pleased that the other man had dropped by. Eyeing him carefully, he took in the way the major seemed to bite the corner of his lip, the way his gaze kept flicking away from Mac only to return again as if he couldn't help himself.

Evan's cheeks flushed as his eyes landed on the lei hanging on the wall behind Mac, slightly off to his right. Mac didn't even need to check to know that was what had caught the man's attention. He could tell simply from the way Evan's blush deepened. Mac fought to contain his grin, though he was certain he was failing miserably at it.

Clearing his throat, Evan stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Right, well... I'll head back to work then.”

Still trying to stifle a grin, Mac managed a, “See you later, Evan,” just as the other man walked out. Shaking his head, he allowed himself a chuckle before turning his attention back to his paperwork.

Carson was busy with a patient when Major Sheppard radioed, “Medical team to the gateroom!”

“On our way, Major,” he replied before shutting the com. Mac grabbed the first aid kit and beckoned a nurse to follow him as he took off running. When they got to the room, Mac took a few seconds to asses the situation. Rodney was beginning to sit up, with Elizabeth, Dr. Grodin, Teyla, and Major Sheppard hovering over him. Evan and his brother stood off to the side with twin looks of concern on their faces.

Kneeling down beside Rodney, he went through the motions of checking the man's vitals even as Rodney grouched, “Thank you. Take your time.” Rodney tried to stretch, but couldn't move very well judging by the ginger way he shifted. “Ugh, man down.”

Mac suppressed a grin. “Come now, Rodney, don't be such a baby,” he muttered, pressing the stethoscope to the man's chest to listen to his breathing.

“I'm  _ not _ being a 'baby', Mac!” Rodney protested in a huff. “You try evicting a giant energy monster from the city and see how well you fare.”

“Did you now?” Mac said, impressed with his friend. With a nod at the nurse, they each grabbed Rodney by the elbow and shoulder and helped him to his feet.

Looking exhausted but beaming with pride anyway, Rodney straightened, his chest swelling as he confirmed, “Yes, I did, thank you very much,” and off he went, telling Mac in great detail about how they had lured an energy creature that was hiding on Atlantis to the gateroom with a naquedah generator in front of the open gate. How instead of the M.A.L.P. leading the creature through the gate, the being instead drained the thing of its power and feasted on the generator. How it had continued to grow until it had expanded all the way to the steps, and how Rodney had bravely stepped into the shrouded being and tossed the generator through the gate at great personal risk. 

Mac’s eyes flitted over Rodney in assessment as they walked. “What about your shield?”

Rodney gave him a triumphant, if tired, smile. “Oh, it fell off after the creature drained it of energy.”

Eyes widening, Mac shook his head in astonishment. “You don’t say. In that case, I do believe you’re quite lucky to be on your feet at all,” he murmured. 

As they slowly made their way to the infirmary for a more thorough check up, Mac glanced over his shoulder. He smiled at Evan who was trailing behind them, his brother walking beside him with an amused glint in his eyes. At Mac's raised eyebrow, Evan shrugged. “Just making sure you get him to the infirmary okay. You know, in case he 'passes out' again.”

“Thank you, Major,” Rodney said, sounding somewhat petulant.

“Aye, thank you, Major,” Mac repeated, but with sincerity in his voice. He had a feeling that life in Pegasus would prove very interesting, indeed, and for a myriad reasons. He fervently hoped that one Evan Lorne would be one of them.


	10. Chapter 10

“How are you feeling then, Rodney?” Carson asked as he took the man's vitals. AR-1 had just returned from a trading mission, and since it had only been a couple of days since Rodney had been given the ATA therapy, Carson wanted to make sure all was well.

Rodney scowled. “I'm going to be black and blue this time tomorrow.”

Raising his eyebrows in alarm, Carson looked up, then turned his attention to John when he piped up from the next bed, “Aww come on, McKay. It wasn't that bad. So I pushed you down. It's not my fault there were rocks hidden under that pile of leaves, and at least you didn't get beamed up by a dart.”

Somewhat mollified, Rodney nodded. “True. I suppose bruises do beat being eaten by the Wraith.”

“Indeed, Dr. McKay,” interjected Teyla who stood waiting her turn to be checked out. “We were very lucky to have escaped the culling.”

Carson blinked as his eyes met Major Sheppard's. “Again?” Wasn't this the third time their team had walked in on a culling?

The major's jaw set, he nodded. “Yeah. Say, Teyla, were the Wraith always this active?”

Teyla shook her head. “No, Major. It has not been that long since the Melorans were culled. They should have been safe for another generation at least.” She sounded both puzzled and extremely worried.

Major Sheppard scowled down at his arm as the nurse took his blood. Carson felt for the man. He knew that he blamed himself for waking the Wraith and the subsequent loss of life his actions had brought about. Sighing, Carson shook his head and shared a knowing look with Rodney, who seemed genuinely concerned for his teammate.

Getting ready to take Rodney's blood, he tried to push thoughts of Wraith out of his head so he could focus on the here and now. “I'm going to have to take a little more than normal, Rodney,” he cautioned.

Alarmed, Rodney stared at him wide-eyed. “Why? Is something wrong?”

Smiling reassuringly, he patted his friend's thigh. “No need to worry, I just need to run some tests to see how the gene therapy's affected you. See if there's anything that I need to be aware of, or that needs tweaking before we start to administer it to the rest of the expedition.”

“Well, if you must,” Rodney conceded with ill grace. “I feel perfectly fine, you know. Not like I grew a second head or anything.”

Fighting a grin, Carson ducked his head and kept his thoughts that while what he said was true, he thought perhaps that Rodney's head  _ had _ gotten a little bigger. Carson wasn't stupid enough to say that aloud, however. He liked having warms showers, after all.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Penny for your thoughts,” his brother said quietly as he bumped Ioan's shoulder.

Ioan felt the heat rise on his cheeks as he cast a sidelong glance a couple of tables over to where Kimberly sat having breakfast with several colleagues. Running his fingers through his hair, he sighed and turned to look at his brother fully. “You'll think I'm nuts.”

“Guess you're safe then, because I already do, so spill,” Evan teased, earning him a glower.

“I haven't been able to stop thinking about her,” Ioan confessed. “It's insane, I mean... I've been into girls before and stuff, but nothing like this.”

Evan leaned forward a little to see past Ioan in order to check out Kimberly. “I can honestly say you've never met a girl like her before. She's way out of your league,” he said, grinning. “Gorgeous, funny, beautiful smile. Incredibly smart. She could run circles around both of us, intellectually.”

Grumbling, Ioan sunk lower in his seat. “Tell me about it.” Tracing the edge of his plate with his finger, he stared morosely at it. He could tell from the corner of his eye that his brother was watching him closely.

“You really have it bad for her, don't you?” Evan asked finally, his voice low and gentle.

Scrubbing his face with both hands, he nodded. “Not that it matters. Regulations won't allow it-” Ioan started, only to have Evan cut him off. 

“Screw the regs, Ioan. Don't get me wrong, the rules are there for a reason, and I'm all for them on the whole, but we're in another galaxy, in case you hadn't noticed. On top of that, it isn't looking very promising on the ZPM front from what I can tell, so who knows if we'll ever get back home. What are they going to do? Court-martial us? Throw us in the brig? Decommission us? They can't, Ioan, they need every single one of us.”

Ioan sat up straight, shocked at the vehemence in his brother's voice. Both he and Evan had been brought up to believe in following orders. Leaving no man behind. Everything that the Air Force stood for. They both held it sacred, and yet here was Evan basically telling him to flaunt the regulations.

Evan's jaw twitched stubbornly, a look of defiance in his eyes that Ioan hadn't seen there in a very long time. “Don't give me that look, either. It isn't like I'm suggesting mutiny here, or going on a murder spree. All I'm saying is, at some point Dr. Weir and Major Sheppard are going to have to realize that the rules from back home can't all apply here in Atlantis. It isn't feasible in the long run. We're basically a new colony now, Ioan. Surely you realize that, too?”

Tilting his head, Ioan gazed thoughtfully at his brother. He had to admit, he had a point. They  _ were _ cut off from Earth and unless they started to look to the Pegasus natives, there would be very limited options for the people of the expedition when it came to dating. Ioan caught sight of Mac and Carson walking into the mess hall out of the corner of his eye, and suddenly another thought occurred to him. He grinned. “Your inciting to break the rules wouldn't have anything to do with a certain Scottish charmer having gotten under  _ your _ skin, would it?” he teased.

Turning his head to see who Ioan was looking at, Evan blushed. Even so, he feigned nonchalance when he refocused on his brother. “Don't know what you're on about. Carson and I are just friends.”

“Uhhuh, yeah,” Ioan said, grinning wryly,” because  _ that _ was who I was referring to.” Mac's laughter rang from across the mess hall and Evan's blush deepened, proving Ioan's point. Ioan nudged his brother's arm, his smile fading as he grew serious. “All kidding aside here, Ev, but it's about time. It's been what? Five years since Jim passed away?”

A pained expression flitted over Evan's face at the mention of his late fiancé. “Yeah, I know,” he ground out hoarsely as he fidgeted with his napkin, refusing to look at Ioan.

Placing his hand on Evan's wrist, Ioan sighed. “Jim wouldn't want you to be alone forever, Ev. You know that. I haven't seen you interested in  _ anyone _ since he died. Not until Mac, and if he's the one who has you paying attention again, then I say go for it.” At Evan's flinch, Ioan added quickly, “Finding someone else attractive doesn't mean you're betraying Jim's memory, Evan. Hell, it doesn't even have to mean that you'll end up with Mac. For all you know, it is just infatuation and it leads nowhere aside from friendship, but that's still a chance worth taking, isn't it?”

Casting a sidelong glance to where Mac stood talking to a couple of nurses, Evan sighed. “You're right,” he said quietly, cupping his hands in front of his face. “I know you are, Ioan. I just... I still miss Jim. Every day. I don't know if that'll ever really go away.”

Ioan nodded in understanding. “Whoever you end up with'll get that, Evan.”

“Yeah,” Evan said with a sad smile. Shooting another look at the doctor, he sighed. “It's stupid. It's as if I can't even help myself around him,” he mumbled under his breath.

Chuckling, Ioan tapped his brother's foot with his. “Yeah, I noticed.” Then sneaking a peek at Kimberly's table, he sighed, too. “I know the feeling. Guess we're both pretty gone, huh?”

Evan snorted, rolling his eyes. “Oh no. You've got it way worse, little brother. You're hell and gone already. Now, what are you going to do about it?” he challenged.

The look in his eyes told Ioan the subject of Evan's infatuation with Mac was firmly closed for the time being, which was fine. Evan knew Ioan was there for him if he needed someone to talk to. Scratching the back of his head, he leaned back in his chair and stared at Kimberly as he gathered his thoughts. “I don't know, man. Not like I can ask her to go out with me on a date.”

Raising his eyebrows, Evan huffed. “And why not?”

Turning to his brother, he gaped at him. “Have you forgotten where we are? In case you hadn't noticed, there's a decided lack of nice restaurants and cinemas around here.”

A sly smile formed on Evan's lips and his eyes twinkled with mirth. “Yeah, but the city has great views, the mess hall will pack a picnic if you ask them, and the logs say there's land several miles from here. You have the gene, so you could pilot a jumper and take her for a ride.”

Ioan blinked, mulling that over. “That actually doesn't sound half bad. Except... there's no way I'd be given permission for that, Ev.”

Quirking a brow, Evan grinned. “Have you forgotten that with Sumner gone, I'm second in command again? Besides, Sheppard and I have already talked about sending people to scout the mainland, so if you don't mind taking a few scans and stuff, you'd have a good excuse on paper.”

Ioan stared at his brother, perplexed. “You've got it all figured out, haven't you?”

Taking a sip of water, Evan nodded, looking smug. “Yep.” All humor suddenly gone, he met Ioan's gaze and murmured, “I've got your back, Ioan. No matter what.”

“Thanks, Ev.” Ioan smiled, then swallowed hard when Evan urged him to go ask Kimberly out already. Steeling himself, Ioan wiped his sweaty palms on his thighs, got up and walked over to her table. “Hey,” he managed, trying to smile.

“Hey, yourself,” Kimberly said, beaming up at him, amusement and curiosity clear in her eyes.

“Can I talk to you for a sec?” Ioan hedged, casting a furtive glance to her companions.

“Sure.” She followed him out into the hallway away from prying ears. “Everything alright?”

She watched him carefully, which made him laugh nervously. Good grief, why did he have to feel so jittery? It wasn't as if he'd never asked a girl out before. Still, this felt... different, somehow. “Yeah, sorry, I just... I didn't want to do this in front of everybody.”

Surprised, she stared at him a moment. “Do what?”

Biting the corner of his lip, Ioan rubbed the back of his neck. “Er... ask you out?” he asked stupidly, flinching. “Sorry, I didn't... I mean.” Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes briefly, then tried again. “I was wondering if you'd like to go on a date with me.” Ioan crossed his fingers behind his back, waiting anxiously for her answer. Seriously, what was he, fifteen again? It was ridiculous how his stomach was trying to tie itself into knots over this woman.

Kimberly was obviously fighting laughter, as her mouth twitched and her eyes fairly danced as she watched him flounder. “A date? With you?” she clarified, and Ioan felt his heart sink to his knees. A giggle escaped her as she reached for his hand and squeezed it. “I'd like that a lot,” she mused, eyes intent on his.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Carson peered at his screen as the results of Rodney's DNA test post-therapy came up. Pulling up both Rodney's pre-therapy results and Major Sheppard's results for comparison, Carson carefully went over every change he could find. It never ceased to amaze him just how little was still known about the human genome, really. Carson had noted long ago, when he first started doing research after General O'Neill's encounters with Ancient technology, that there were some minor differences between ATA and non-ATA people. It was what had led him to the gene therapy, after all.

Frowning, he checked against the two others. “Well, this is odd,” he murmured. Pulling up General O'Neill's DNA results, he compared them to both Rodney and Sheppard's, but the discrepancy wasn't the same. If you could call it a discrepancy. Post-therapy, Rodney appeared to have a marker in common with the major, but that same marker wasn't present in General O'Neill. Or rather, O'Neill had  _ a _ marker, but it was slightly different again from the other two men.

“I wonder,” he murmured as he found his own DNA results and checked it. Like O'Neill, Carson, too had a marker in the same area, but it was different again from the other men. Sitting back in his seat, he frowned up at the ceiling as he let his thoughts drift. In all his years as a geneticist, he had never encountered the like. He'd seen genomes that differed because of a variation in species, like rat to mouse and such. Or even human and Ancient, but this appeared to be something else entirely. Filing it away for later thought, Carson focused on what was pertinent: whether the therapy worked. The rest, he would figure out at a later date, since it was apparent that there were variations within the ATA itself. He promised himself he would find out what that meant.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally figured out how to put the cast pictures up on my blog, so if you want to see what everyone looks like, head on over to http://naelany.com/fanfiction/stargate-fanfiction/series/encoded/

Radek shifted uncomfortably as he watched Carson administer the therapy to Kavanagh. He wasn't looking forward to receiving the treatment himself – the very idea that his DNA would be rewritten gave him fits, never mind the fact that Radek hated needles – but he couldn't quite hide his amusement when Kavanagh whined like a baby as he was injected.

Sometimes he wondered just how Kavanagh had managed to be placed on the expedition. Thus far, he had made no favorable impression on Radek. The man was self-centered, foolish, and complained about  _ everything _ while taking blame for nothing. Radek rolled his eyes at the man's, “Ow! What are you trying to do? Jam the needle in until it comes out the other side?”

Carson scoffed. “It was barely a pinch and you're already done, so off with you.”

Scowling – Kavanagh's default setting, in Radek's opinion – Kavanagh rolled his sleeve down. “So how long before I know this worked?”

Carson had already explained this several times that Radek had heard as he had waited, which meant Kavanagh had as well. Still, Carson went over it once more, and with more patience than Radek would have believed possible. “There's no way to be sure. With Dr. McKay, it took a few hours, but I haven't heard back from everyone yet. Just be careful around Ancient technology for a day or so until we can be sure the therapy took, or not. And before you ask, the gene therapy either takes, or it doesn't. Far as I can tell, there is no middle ground.”

Still grumbling, Kavanagh left the infirmary. Radek let out a sigh of relief. “Finally, he is gone.”

Grinning, Carson patted the bed and Radek dutifully took a seat. “Aye, he is a bit of a handful, isn't he?”

“You do not even know half of it,” Radek assured as he held out his bare arm. Turning his face away as Carson picked up the syringe, he tried to relax. “Please, be quick.” A pinch, and a feeling of pressure as Carson gave him his dose and it was over. “Thank you,” Radek sighed, flexing his fingers. Giving Carson a conspiratorial look, he added, “I am glad I do not have to go off world. Would hate to always be poked and prodded.”

Clasping Radek's arm, Carson chuckled. “No worries, lad. As long as you stay out of trouble, we will keep the poking to a minimum. Afraid of needles?”

Radek nodded emphatically. “Unreasonable, I know. I cannot help it.” Hopping down, he couldn't quite contain his curiosity. “How many have received treatment now?

Carson cleaned up after himself and sighed. “Well, Elizabeth's had her shot, but it didn't take. You're the last of the science departments to get one, and this afternoon Mac and I are starting on the military contingent. We felt it best to have you lot done first, since you are the ones who are dealing with Ancient technology the most. Major Sheppard agreed, mostly because there are several of his men who have the gene naturally, so he has a few pilots already. He's eager for more, though, and understandably so.”

Radek nodded. “Makes sense. What is ratio so far, do you know?”

Carson shook his head. “No idea, lad. It seems to be completely random, and like I told Kavanagh, we haven't heard back from everyone that's received the therapy yet.”

“Will let you know if anything changes,” Radek promised.

“Thank you, lad. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some paperwork to finish before lunch.”

“Of course. Must go back to lab, too, before Rodney explodes,” Radek quipped.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“I just heard back from Sergeant Stackhouse,” Mac said, poking his head into Carson's office. “His ATA took, so since he was the last to receive the therapy, anyone who hasn't noticed any changes probably won't.”

Putting his pen down, Carson sighed and stretched his arms over his head. “Right then. Thanks, Mac.”

Nodding, Mac headed back to work, leaving Carson to his thoughts. Tapping his earpiece, he began the arduous task of calling in people to come in to draw blood so he could attempt to figure out why the therapy was only partially effective.

Deciding to get a head start, Carson pulled up the results of the tests he’d already run. He was looking at each of the three ATA groups: natural carriers, those with successful gene therapy, and those who had rejected the ATA gene. It was a very small pool, but it was a start. He methodically poured over each strand, taking careful notes as he went.

Carson spent the next few days immersed in his data, only pausing long enough to eat and sleep, leaving the day-to-day medical care to his staff. A thought was niggling at the back of his brain that wouldn't quite form but bothered him all the same. All around him, ever since they had arrived in Pegasus, he had noticed changes in the members of the expedition. Some were relatively minor and understandable, considering their situation. And it wasn't something that was really blatant, either. He wondered whether he ought to discuss things with Kate to see if she had noticed anything, or whether it was his own imagination. After all, they were a long way from home and it was only natural that people would form bonds of friendship under their circumstances. But was that all it was? Carson wasn't at all sure anymore.

Especially when he kept stumbling over that particular marker he had found. Several times now, he had found matches in that DNA mutation. So far, they appeared to come mostly in identical pairs, and were never the same from one pair to the next. He was baffled as to what that might mean, but his gut was telling him he was on to something. Something important.

_ Could _ those markers have anything to do with what he was seeing all over the city? Hearing Mac's laughter from the other side of the infirmary, Carson looked up to see the man talking to Major Lorne. He smiled, then suddenly remembered an article Rodney had given him just prior to their leaving Earth. Pushing his chair back, he hurried to his desk and rifled through the drawers in search of that paper. After a couple of minutes of rummaging, Carson finally found it and sat down to read. He had only glanced at it before, but as his eyes roved over the pages, he knew he was on the right track. If friendship was partially determined by DNA, then perhaps those markers he had found determined a deeper connection.

Putting the paper back in the drawer, Carson got to his feet. “Mac,” he called out, getting his attention.

“Aye? What is it, Carson?” Mac was still smiling widely, his focus still partially on Major Lorne who had turned around, too.

“Would you mind terribly giving these results a look? I need a second pair of eyes to make sure I'm not missing anything,” Carson hedged.

“Sure, I'll be right there.” Mac sighed and shot Evan an apologetic look. “Sorry, Evan, but it looks like I have to get back to work. I'll see you later, yeah?”

“Of course,” Evan replied, then added to Carson, “Later, doc.”

Carson waved him off, his mind already back on his data. He felt a little uneasy, pulling Mac into this, as one of the pairs Carson had found was for Mac and Evan, whatever it meant. Clearing his throat, he came to a decision and hurriedly pulled the results of their tests from the group. Better be sure of the findings, he figured, before potentially messing with their lives.

Mac settled behind the computer Carson had been working at and immediately got to work, Carson hovering close by. “Well that's weird,” Mac said after a while. Glancing at Carson, he frowned. “I've never seen anything like it before. Are they all like that?”

Carson nodded grimly. “Aye, seems so. Did you notice any pattern?” he asked as nonchalantly as he knew how.

For an answer, Mac pulled up four sets of results, which happened to be Rodney’s and John's, Miko's and Carson's own. Pointing at the markers, Mac said thoughtfully, “The marker here is new to me, though it appears to have a mutation of some sort. The mutation between Major Sheppard and Dr. McKay is the same, as is the one between Dr. Kusanagi and yourself. But the two pairs are completely different from each other. Far as I can tell, there's several that match up, but also a few of the ATAs, be it natural or therapy, that have a marker but no one with a matching mutation. It's rather disconcerting, to be honest.”

“You're not wrong, there,” Carson muttered under his breath. With a sigh, he added, “Any thoughts on what it means?”

Mac shook his head. “No, but since it's related to the ATA gene, I wonder whether the Ancients mentioned it in one of their logs.”

“Aye, I was wondering that myself. You up for helping me research?”

Flashing a grin, Mac nodded. “Of course. This is a mystery that needs solving because not knowing is killing me.”

“There's one more I'd like you to look at before we begin,” Carson said as he reached over Mac to pull up Teyla's results. He had asked her permission to run a DNA test on her as well, in hopes of finding some answers, but he hadn't had much luck. He  _ had _ found something odd with hers, however, that had him just as stumped as the mystery markers.

Peering back at the screen, Mac frowned. “What are these?” he asked, pointing at the very spots that Carson had noticed. Teyla had mostly human DNA, but there was something there that was both completely foreign and vaguely familiar to Carson. He just couldn't pinpoint why or how.

“I was hoping you might have an idea. Maybe this is what is normal for Pegasus humans, who knows. It just seemed strange to me to have the Athosians look so similar to us – or the Ancients for that matter – and yet have these discrepancies. So far, I haven't managed to convince any of the other Athosians to part with their blood, so I have nothing to compare it to.”

Mac frowned, seemingly trying to remember something, then shook his head. “No, we don't. I was trying to think if we did any bloodwork on the Athosians who were injured during the rising, but all we had was a few bumps and bruises, and a broken bone or two.”

“Aye, well, maybe in time then, eh?” Carson sighed, feeling weary. Perhaps it was time for a break.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Evan put down his tray and sat down opposite Mac. “So what did Carson want?” he asked, popping a french fry into his mouth. They were starting to run low on the perishable foods, so unless they came across some potatoes on one of their trade missions, this might be the last chance for them. Evan sincerely hoped they would find something comparable, because fries were one of his guilty pleasures.

Mac grinned and his eyes lit up. “It seems we have a bit of a mystery on our hands with the ATA gene. Carson found some oddities that we can't explain, so we're going to go through the Ancient database to see if there are answers to be had there.”

Evan chuckled. “You seem pretty into the whole mystery thing.”

“Aye, but of course! That's what science is all about, isn't it? Solving the great mysteries? Finding answers where there were none?”

Evan quirked his brows. “Always enjoyed Sherlock Holmes,” he quipped. “So the game's afoot, huh?”

Mac's laughter reached his eyes, and the sound thrilled Evan. “Indeed it is, Watson, indeed it is,” Mac said with a wink that made Evan's cheeks flush. “Starting tomorrow, at any rate.”

Evan nodded and opened his mouth to say something, but before he could speak, Kimberly all but fell into Mac's lap. “Hey, you two,” she said with a grin as she wrapped her arms around Mac's shoulders. Evan felt a stab of jealousy at the easy interaction between them, but he firmly stamped it down. He had no right to feel any such thing, after all.

Mac put his arm around Kimberly's waist as she said, “How's my favorite doctor?”

Laughing, Mac rolled his eyes conspiratorially at Evan. “You only say that now, Kim, because it was Carson who did your last post-mission exam. When it's my turn, he'll be your favorite again.”

Kimberly shrugged, an unrepentant smile on her face. “You have a point.”

Ioan joined their table, carrying both her tray and his. He mouthed, 'Sorry,' as he tilted his head toward Kimberly and Mac, who bantered easily. Evan gave a shrug and a 'What can you do,” look, to which Ioan grinned knowingly.

Leaning in, Evan whispered, “How'd it go?” Ioan and Kimberly had taken a jumper to the mainland earlier that day, ostensibly to do some reconnaissance, but Evan knew better.

Ioan's eyes cut to Kimberly. “She's really something,” he said sotto voce. “We found a little beach not too far from here and talked for hours.”

Raising a skeptical brow, Evan murmured, “Just talk?”

Shooting his brother a narrowed glance, he shook his head. “Yes, Evan,” he said, half-annoyed, half-exasperated. “Just talk. I don't want to screw this up by going too fast. It already feels like I'm on a fast train here,” he admitted.

That, Evan could understand all too well. Their attention was drawn by Mac's, “So do you guys have any plans for tonight?”

Ioan shook his head. “No, not really. Well, nothing beyond typing a quick report on the recon we did earlier,” he said.

Kimberly groaned. “Yes. I have to finish the report for Rodney. It'll take me most of the night to finish.”

“How about you, Evan?” Mac asked, sounding hopeful.

Meeting the other man's eyes, Evan found it difficult to look away, so he didn't. “No plans as of yet, why?”

Mac shrugged. “I thought perhaps we could watch a movie? Relax for an evening while we can before we get swept away in either research or some emergency or other.”

Kimberly slipped off Mac's lap and began eating her dinner. From the corner of his eye, Evan could just see her looking between him and Mac with amused interest. He did his best to ignore her. To not let his thoughts dwell on why she might be amused, or why she had that knowing look on her face. Clearing his throat, Evan smiled. “Sounds like fun. What did you have in mind?”

Mac waved his hand. “Whatever you want to watch, really. I'm open to anything.”

And couldn't that be taken up for interpretation, Evan thought. Casting his memory back to the extensive library that Vala and the rest of SG-1 had managed to put together before they left, Evan grinned. “I'm sure we'll figure something out.”

The four of them chatted easily over the rest of dinner until Ioan and Kimberly had to get back to work, leaving Mac and Evan alone at the table. Mac leaned back in his chair as he watched Evan closely. “So have you figured out what you want to watch yet?”

Evan shook his head. “No, not really,” he admitted.

Getting to his feet, Mac chuckled. “Well, come on then. Why don't we go to my room and we'll figure it out from there?”

Swallowing hard, Evan nodded. Up until now, they had only spent time together in public areas. They hadn't ventured to apartments at all, and while the prospect of being alone with the man enticed Evan, it also made him nervous. The pull he felt toward Mac, though, seemed to trump everything, and Evan found himself nodding agreement before he could think better of it.

Mac grabbed his laptop and booted it up as soon as they got to his room, then handed it to Evan. “Be my guest. I'll be right back,” he said before disappearing to the bathroom, leaving Evan to his thoughts. Scrolling through the library of movies on the central database that everyone had been hooked up to, Evan tried to focus on just finding a movie.

He had just settled on  _ Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom _ when Mac returned. Glancing at the screen, Mac grinned. “Ohh, good one. Haven't seen that in a while.”

Offering him a pleased smile, Evan relaxed a little. At least he had made a good choice. Placing the laptop on the small table in front of the sofa, they watched in companionable silence for a while. It took Evan a bit to realize that Mac was paying more attention to him than he was the movie. Shifting, he shot a questioning look at Mac.

Mac shrugged. “Nothing. Was just thinking I'm glad you're here.” Ducking his head, Evan twisted his fingers in his lap as Mac continued, “I'd like to get to know you better, Evan.” The man sounded sincere and his voice was so tender that it made Evan raise his eyes to find Mac smiling at him in a way that had something inside Evan melt away.

Clearing his throat, Evan gave a small smile of his own. “I think I'd like that, Mac, but...” At Mac's concern, Evan hurriedly added, “I'd appreciate it if we could take things slow. It's... been a while.”

Mac shifted in his seat so he faced Evan and leaned forward, reaching for his hand. With his thumb stroking the back of Evan's hand, he met Evan’s eyes thoughtfully. “Tell me about him,” Mac prodded gently.

Surprised, Evan gaped at him. “How did you know it was a 'him'?”

Light laughter spilled from Mac's lips and he looked genuinely amused as he teased, “Because unless I'm very much mistaken, and that rarely happens, you are as gay as I am.” Turning more serious again, he gave Evan's hand a squeeze. “So what happened to him?”

Swallowing hard, Evan fought back the emotions that welled up inside of him. Both those that still belonged to Jim, and those that had started to be all Mac's. His voice barely above a whisper, Evan told Mac everything about Jim. How they had been together for three years before he had asked Jim to marry him. How they had planned out their future, only for it to be snatched away one night by a drunk driver, two months before their wedding.

“Oh, Ev, I'm so sorry.” Mac released Evan's hand only to pull him into a comforting hug. “I'm so, so sorry. How long ago was that?” Mac murmured in his ear as he held him.

Evan closed his eyes, breathing deep. He felt completely overwhelmed by it all. The way Mac smelled, how it felt to hold him in his arms, and to  _ be _ held? “Five years,” Evan croaked, clenching his eyes shut. Had being in Jim's arms ever felt like this? Evan couldn't remember and that made it all worse.

They sat like that for a long time and the credits were rolling when they let go. Scrubbing his face, Evan cleared his throat several times in hopes of pulling himself together. “Sorry,” he muttered.

Cupping Evan's cheek, Mac smiled sadly. “You have nothing to be sorry for, love.” Evan blinked in surprise. “Ah, sorry. I probably shouldn't have,” Mac said quietly as he pulled his hand away.

Shaking his head, Evan quickly stopped Mac's movement. “Don't. It's... it's okay.” And it was. More so than Evan was willing to admit. Ioan was right. No matter what happened between him and Mac, it was time for Evan to take a chance and risk his heart again. Carefully and slowly, baby steps all the way, but still a chance. 

 


	12. Chapter 12

“Bloody hell,” Carson muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. He checked his screen again, shaking his head. Well didn't that just beat all. Soulmates. He and Mac had been searching the database for days without much luck until he had run across the information currently on his screen. It didn't mention much, made no explanation of the why or how of it all, but there was enough there to confirm that the markers they had discovered were those of a soul bond.

“Right.” Carson saved the data on a thumbdrive, closed out of the log, then copied some of the DNA results after stripping the identifiers from them to preserve his patients' privacy. Tapping his earpiece, he sighed. “Elizabeth, have you got a moment? I have something I need to discuss with you.”

“Of course, Carson. My office? Or do you want me to come there?”

“Your office, I think. I'm on my way.” Closing his com, Carson headed out of the infirmary. When he passed Mac, he pulled him aside and spoke in low tones. “I need you to take over for a while, I have a meeting with Weir.” Pausing, he pondered what – if anything – to tell the young man. “Mac, I think we should put the research on hold for now. There's no rush, after all, and I don't want the other projects to fall behind, alright?”

Mac looked puzzled, but nodded in agreement. “You're the boss.”

Patting his arm, Carson tried to smile. “There’s a good lad.” He felt a little sick to his stomach, keeping what he'd learned from his friend and colleague, but he needed to figure this out first.

Of course, that feeling wasn't helped by the knowledge that Miko was  _ his  _ soulmate. It made him question everything. As he made his way to Elizabeth's office, Carson couldn't stop cataloging his feelings for Miko. Was he truly infatuated with her because of who she was – a beautiful, smart, kind-hearted woman - or because they were soulbound?

Carson knocked on the door. “Elizabeth?”

Smiling warmly up at him, Elizabeth put her pad down and gestured for him to take a seat. “Carson! What was it you wanted to talk about? Is everything alright?”

With some reluctance, Carson thought the door closed, then locked. He didn't want any interruptions for this because he wasn't certain he would be able to get it all out otherwise. Handing her the thumb drive, Carson cleared his throat and sat down. “Have a look for yourself,” he said quietly. He watched her carefully as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing.

“What exactly am I looking at?” she asked, glancing up at him.

“A potential problem, I think. Mac and I have been trying to figure out why the gene therapy didn't take on everyone. While doing so, we stumbled across an anomaly in the DNA of those with the ATA gene – both the natural and the therapy induced ones. What you're looking at are the markers we found.” Leaning forward, he pointed them out for her. “The thing that caught our attention was the fact they seemed to mostly come in pairs, and that no two pairs were alike.”

Frowning, Elizabeth sat back in her chair, steepling her fingers as she watched Carson carefully. “Okay. So what have you found out?”

Taking a deep breath, Carson laid his cards on the table. “After some digging in the database, I discovered that those markers indicate a soulbond. The pairs in question are soul _ mates _ .”

Eyes wide, Elizabeth gaped at him. “And what does that mean, exactly?”

“I'm not sure, to be honest. All I know for sure is that I have one, and that I've been attracted to her for as long as I've known her. I've also noticed some patterns among the members of the expedition.”

“What kind of patterns?” she asked, but from the speculative way she was eyeing him, Carson thought she had a good idea already.

“There have been friendships that have formed in fast order. Attachments are becoming apparent in several cases. To my knowledge, no one has flaunted regulations yet, but if the soulbonds have the effect I think they do, then that can't last much longer.”

Elizabeth nodded thoughtfully. “Right.”

Wringing his hands, Carson gazed at them a moment before meeting her eyes again. “The thing that bothers me is, do we tell them? Do we have the  _ right _ to tell anyone they have a soulmate. Or for that matter, do we have the right to withhold that information?” His stomach churned at that, knowing he already had withheld it from at least a few people. “Is it cruel to do either? I just don't know.”

Humming under her breath, Elizabeth nodded. “I see your point. Quite the dilemma.” Tapping her fingers on her desk, she frowned as her eyes drifted toward the control room. After a minute or two, she sighed and turned her attention back to Carson. “I don't think there are any easy answers here, Carson. For now, let's keep this to ourselves while we figure it out. We'll both try to think on how best to handle the situation and then we can discuss it further. Fair enough?”

Carson smiled grimly and nodded. It would have to do.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Get this  _ off _ of me,” John ground out, panting with the effort of trying to move with Ford and McKay as they carried him between them toward the jumper. “Soon as we get inside.”

Clenching his jaw, John refused to acknowledge the look the lieutenant shared with Rodney. They had tried to remove the giant tick that had latched onto his neck already. John shuddered at the memory of it. He had never  _ hurt _ as badly as he had after Ford had tried shooting it off.

“Go, go, go!” Ford yelled at Teyla who stood waiting by the hatch. “Tell Markham to take off the second we're inside!” Teyla nodded grimly and disappeared from view to relay the order.

Rodney grunted with the effort of hauling John over the ramp while Ford covered their six and closed the rear hatch. As soon as it was up, they lowered John to the floor, back resting against the hatch. He was exhausted, hurting everywhere, could barely move, and he was decidedly not. Happy.

Ford went up to the front to talk to Markham, urging him to fly faster. The jumper jolted and John groaned, “Taking fire! Taking fire. Get some altitude.”

Oh God, why? Why did this have to happen? Just his stupid luck to run into the stupid bug's... web... and have it latch onto him. John's gut twisted as he recalled the Wraith walking calmly up to him, watching him while John struggled to remain semi-upright. He had thought for sure he was dead, that the Wraith would seize the opportunity and feed on him then and there, but after a minute it had simply walked away. That's when John knew he was in serious trouble – as if the excruciating pain lancing through his body hadn't been clue enough.

“Okay,” Ford called back. “I think we're close enough to dial the gate.”

Rodney huffed in annoyance as he paced back and forth before kneeling by John's side. “Yes, yes! Hurry up and get us back!”

Fuck, he hurt, and he couldn't move properly. He couldn't get remotely comfortable either, giant tick around his neck notwithstanding. He kept trying to sit up, to grab at the thing to pull it off. To do something -  _ anything  _ \- to help, but nothing did. His throat felt thick when he saw the worry written on the astrophysicist's face. John wished he could hold the man, reassure him. Since he couldn't, he took a shallow breath and repeated his earlier demand. “Get this damn thing  _ off _ of me.”

“We can't,” Teyla said firmly, looking as worried as Rodney.

Gaze fixed on Rodney, John tried again. “Cut it off!”

Rodney, however, put his hand on John's shoulder and ignored his plea as he called to Stackhouse, “As soon as we've established a connection, radio ahead and tell them we have a medical emergency!”

John could just tell out of the corners of his eyes that both Teyla and Rodney had firm grips on his shoulders, but he couldn't feel them. It took him a second to realize that he couldn't really feel anything anymore from the neck down, aside from the lingering pain that emanated from where the damned bug was latched on.

He heard Teyla take a wavering breath as she looked to Rodney with something close to panic in her eyes. And  _ that _ scared John more than he would ever admit. He might not have known Teyla for very long, but he was pretty certain that there was little that truly frightened or even phased the woman, yet John's predicament had her flustered beyond anything he had seen yet. Not even when she had been taken captive by the Wraith had she been this rattled. “There must be something we can do for him?” she asked Rodney.

John could see the gears going full speed behind Rodney's eyes as he thought over their options. “There's an emergency first aid kit behind the pilot's seat. Get it.”

How that was going to help, John had no idea, but he kept his mouth shut and his eyes locked on the man next to him. Rodney met his gaze, and John could see how much the stoic resolve cost his friend. “Major, everything we do to try to remove it makes the pain worse, now try to stay still,” Rodney admonished. John didn't have the heart to tell him that not moving wasn't going to be much of an issue pretty soon, so he just nodded.

“Is there no way to go faster?” Teyla asked, stepping up between Markham and Stackhouse.

Without bothering to turn around Stackhouse said tersely, “He's just trying to get us back in one piece.”

John had the fleeting thought that Stackhouse seemed oddly protective of Markham. The tick tightened its hold on John's throat and John tried again to shift. It was getting harder and harder to move. Rodney dug frantically through the medical kit, discarding item after item as he grumbled, “What am I expecting to find in here that's gonna get rid of that thing?”

“Something for the pain,” Teyla replied with strained patience.

Sitting up, Rodney held up a bottle of pills and huffed. “I doubt Tylenol is going to do it,” he said, tossing it aside. “He needs a doctor! How much longer?” he yelled at the three up front.

John wanted to tell Rodney to calm down, to tell him everything would be okay, but it was taking everything he had just then to not cry out. That damned thing just seemed to be burrowing its claws in deeper with every breath he took. He was vaguely aware of Ford telling Atlantis they were inbound and to be ready for a medical emergency, and of him telling Elizabeth in brief terms what had happened. All he could think about, though, was for them to hurry up already.

Suddenly there was a scraping sound and the jumper lurched hard enough to bounce John's head against the ramp, knocking him unconscious.

How long John was out, he had no idea. Keeping his eyes closed, he did a quick assessment of his situation. The bug was still attached, apparently not going anywhere, but at least it wasn't trying to throttle John anymore so there was that. He tried to wiggle his toes. Nothing. Same with his fingers. Well, crap. That was not a good sign. On the bright side – and by 'bright side' he meant 'definitely a bad thing' - the pain was gone. He was still in the same position as before he blacked out, which meant they hadn't gone through the gate yet.

Carefully opening his eyes, he spotted Teyla about a foot from him, rifling through the medical kit again. What had happened? Did someone get hurt? Well, besides him, of course. “Hi, Teyla.”

Teyla's head whipped up, relief stark on her face as she rushed to his side. With effort, John turned his head to face her. “Are you alright?” he muttered.

She blinked, apparently surprised at his concern for her. “I'm fine,” she assured him.

Grunting, John tried – and failed – to shift. “Something tells me we haven't made it to Atlantis yet,” he said, hoping to deflect the question he saw in her eyes.

“No,” she murmured, seemingly deflating.

Taking a breath, John started to ask why when his eye caught the shimmering blue of the event horizon and he froze for several heartbeats. Ford and Rodney were standing in front of it as if they had been arguing. At the moment, though, Rodney was staring at him with such heartbreak in his eyes that it tore at John. “Ford?”

The lieutenant came to his side, but John's focus remained on the event horizon and on Rodney, who looked hurt that it wasn't him John had called on. Despite the fact John could see for himself, he couldn't help asking Ford, “What  _ is _ that?” Though he meant it more in a 'what the hell happened and why are we here'-way.

“We're stuck, sir,” Ford muttered.

“We're what?” John couldn't quite figure out how that was possible.

“In the gate,” Ford added curtly.

Taking a deep breath, John tried to remain calm. “You mean my day just got worse?” The looks of guilt and pity that flitted across his teammates' faces struck John hard. Especially the despair in Rodney's. It made John feel awful. Worse than he already was feeling, because he hated that he was putting his friends through this.

He had always hated to be the cause of grief for those he cared about but this was ten times worse for the simple reason that over the past several weeks – or was it months? - Rodney had come to mean so much more to him than just a friend. Part of him was kicking himself for never having acted on his feelings, and now it would be too late. John was going to die and Rodney would be left behind, never knowing how much he had meant to John.

Then again, it was probably for the best that Rodney was unaware. It would be totally unfair for him to have it taken away. They had been spending a lot of time together lately and had talked about basically every subject under the horizon. John knew how few true friends Rodney had always had, though it had gotten a little better since coming to Atlantis. He also knew the kind of luck the other man had had with relationships of any kind and for a wonder, it was worse than John's own – ex-wife notwithstanding.

Rodney seemed to grasp for something to hold onto, mentally. An anchor that would keep him from going adrift as he seemed to be in danger of doing. So John wasn't at all surprised when Rodney began explaining what he believed had happened with the drive pods, ending with, “There's no way of knowing really, but... if you know some way of manually retracting the mechanism?” He sounded almost hopeful in spite of himself. It was nearly enough to make John smile. Nearly.

John took a moment to really consider, but he already knew the answer. He sighed, eyes fixed on where the cockpit was supposed to be. “Yeah. Cockpit on the left,” he said, his heart sinking to somewhere around his navel.

Rodney's jaw flexed, jerking a thumb to the event horizon. “The cockpit is regrettably de-molecularized at the moment, but uh, what about somewhere back here?”

John shook his head. “No.”

“No. Didn't think so. I'll just be over here taking some readings. Feel free to talk among yourselves.” Rodney sounded terse, closed off, as he grabbed a pad and turned his back on them. John didn't care for it one bit. He could tell how much it frightened the other man to see John hurt and Rodney not have the answers, but there was nothing John could do so he remained quiet.

Teyla stayed by his side, offering what comfort she could, though John knew she was feeling helpless and that she was growing more worried by the moment. Not so much for her own predicament but for his. Ford went to sit opposite Rodney, as if trying to will the other man to succeed. John for his part, lay watching Rodney as he poked at his pad. Not just because he wanted him to find a solution, either. No, John couldn't  _ not _ take his fill of this man while he still had the chance.

Suddenly, Rodney got to his feet and reached past Ford, closing the bulkhead doors and pitching them in darkness. “Ah, sorry,” he mumbled, flicking on his flashlight. John managed a small smile, already getting why he had done it even before Rodney explained it to the others.

Ford apparently wasn't grasping it quite as quickly, and Rodney's panic and fear which had been bubbling just below the surface came to the forefront. He got into an argument with Ford. “McKay,” John said quietly, trying to get his attention. “McKay! Knock it off.”

Rodney turned on him, angry and hurt and frightened. “Oh, ex _ cuse _ me if I'm the only one that comprehends just how  _ screwed _ we are!”

Shooting him a level look, John ground out, “Don't talk to  _ me _ about  _ screwed! _ ”

That brought Rodney up short. He looked crestfallen as what he said and John's reality sunk in on him. “Right. Right. Sorry,” he mumbled, unable to look at John.

John's heart went out to the man. Taking a calming breath, John added with as much confidence as he could muster, “And let's not give up on Markham and Stackhouse either. There's plenty of time to solve this thing, but you've got to  _ stop _ using your mouth and  _ start _ using your brain.”

Rodney swallowed hard a few times before apparently finding his voice again. “I'm sorry. I react to certain doom a certain way, and-.” Pausing, he took a steadying breath and began to look around the compartment. “Maybe there's a way to manually retract the pods.”

John doubted it, but he would sooner die than say so. “Maybe there is.” He had to try to keep his team's hopes up. It was the least he could do. Hell, it might be the only thing he could do just then. He wasn't sure he would make it much longer, but if there was even the slightest chance that his team would make it through, then it was John's responsibility to try as hard as he could to get them there.

Teyla placed her folded jacket behind John's head, cushioning it. “You seem stronger.”

“No, it's...” He hesitated, then decided to tell them the truth. It was one thing to keep their hopes up, it was another to lie to them altogether. “It's that the pain's not so bad now.”

“Well, that's good isn't it?” came Ford's response.

“No, it isn't, Lieutenant. My hands and feet are numb, I can barely move them. I've lost all feeling in my extremities, and the feeling is creeping up.” Closing his eyes briefly so he wouldn't have to see the sickening fear in Rodney's eyes as he stared at John, he continued, “What I'm trying to say, Lieutenant, is that if you don't get this damned thing off me, I have even less time than you do.”

Chancing a glance at Rodney, John's throat tightened with regret. Maybe he shouldn't have been as blunt. Maybe he should have spared them the knowledge after all. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe.

While Rodney set to work with a look of grim determination, John had Ford contact Atlantis. He spoke to Carson about the bug, wanting to know if there was  _ anything _ they could do that they hadn't already tried in order to remove the thing. Teyla chimed in at one point, sharing her belief that the bug was related in some way to the Wraith and that it shared their ability to heal itself.

In the end, Carson had gotten a kit similar to the one they had in the jumper as well as what they had in their personal inventory from their tac vests, and he and Ford worked their way through. As Ford attempted again and again to find something that would affect the bug, John was starting to lose hope. His thoughts were starting to feel sluggish and he could feel his time running out.

Ford poured water on the creature and it reacted with the salt he had sprinkled on it on the previous attempt. Suddenly the pain that had gone came rushing back with a vengeance and John cried out, his body going rigid. He couldn't speak, and for a moment he couldn't move. Next thing he knew, it felt as if the creature had taken control over his motor functions and he practically threw Lieutenant Ford across the jumper, startling Rodney into shorting something, which in turn caused the jumper to move forward just enough for the event horizon to breach the bulkhead doors.

John lay panting, his body once more immovable as the pain ebbed away. “Please don't do that again,” he croaked, grimacing.

Elizabeth's voice came over the coms, “How's Major Sheppard?”

“I'm still here.”

“Hang in there, Major. We're working on the problem.”

“I know you are.” And he did, he just wasn't confident it would do him any good. Especially not after what had just happened. John felt absolutely wretched, everything hurt, and he had almost no energy left. Glancing to Rodney, he felt his resolve crumble. If this was his only chance to tell Rodney he was in love with him, then he had to take it. Somewhere in the back of his mind, part of an old Tennyson poem came to him: 'Tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all. Maybe there was some truth to that.

“Listen, er... I'd like to say something while I still can.”

“Don't!” Elizabeth cut him off. “You're gonna get through this.”

John chuckled hoarsely. He had meant to just talk to Rodney, forgetting he was still on the coms. Showed how out of it he was getting, really. “If I was,” he managed, “then the Wraith wouldn't have let me go.” He was so tired. He could barely keep his eyes open anymore. “I guess he just saw me as good as dead,” he admitted, his speech beginning to slur every couple of words, “because he just walked away. So,” he cleared his throat, trying to focus on Rodney, “what I wanted to say, was-,”

Again, Elizabeth cut him off, telling him to save it for later. He really needed to not be on the com right now, he thought fuzzily. How was he to tell Rodney how he felt if people kept interrupting him? And why was Elizabeth assuming it was her he was trying to say something to? Oh. Right. She was who was on the com, which was still on. John opened his mouth to clarify his intent when Ford cut in, “We should send him through the event horizon.”

Was  _ everyone _ intent on not letting him speak? He glowered at his lieutenant, but he didn't seem to notice. John was vaguely aware of Carson vetoing the idea of sending him through the gate with the bug still attached when a thought occurred to him. “Hit me with the defibrillator.”

Ford gave him an incredulous look. “But the doc said that would kill you.”

Glancing up at Ford, John nodded. “That's the idea.”

The look of consternation on the lieutenant's face was almost worth it, John thought. He was starting to feel the blackness creeping up around the edges of his mind even as Carson explained what John meant. Finally, Teyla and Ford were ready to hit him with the defibrillator. Ford hesitated for a moment, and while John gazed on Rodney, he summoned all the strength he had left and turning to Ford, ordered, “Do it!” putting as much bite into it as he could muster.

Pain lanced through him as the electricity jolted him and then he knew no more.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

An annoying beeping sound woke John up much sooner than he would have liked. He gasped when the realization he had survived hit him. A hand grasped his tightly, followed by a whispered, “John?”

He opened his eyes slowly, wincing at the brightness and the light immediately dimmed. Ah, one of the perks of being on Atlantis, he mused, a smile playing on his lips. He turned his head to Rodney who was still holding his hand as he hovered over him. “Hey, Rodney,” John croaked, throat parched.

Jaw set stubbornly, Rodney glared down at him. “Don't you  _ ever _ put me through that again, John Sheppard,” he ground out.

John blinked in surprise at the vehemence in Rodney's voice. “Good to see you, too, Rodney,” he said, not quite sure how to react.

Rodney harrumphed, then appeared to relax a little. His eyes softened as he gazed at John, making him feel warm and cared for. John squeezed Rodney's hand, murmuring, “We made it.” Way to state the obvious, but what else could he say?

Giving him a crooked smile, Rodney nodded. “Yes, we did, no thanks to you.”

Putting on a hurt face, John pouted. “Not my fault that tick-,” he started, only to have Rodney cut him off with a quiet, “I almost lost you.”

John's heart tripped at the pain in his friend's voice. “I know. I'm sorry.”

Before John knew what was happening, Rodney leaned down and brushed his lips over John's forehead. “Rodney,” he rasped as he reached up to pull the man's head down for a kiss, oblivious to their surroundings.

It was soft, sweet, and over far too quickly. Rodney pulled away with a goofy smile on his lips, one that John was fairly sure was mirrored on his own. “Regulations,” Rodney reminded him regretfully.

Casting a quick look around the thankfully empty infirmary, John locked eyes with Rodney. “Hang them. We'll be careful.”

“You sure?” Rodney asked, a touch of insecurity lacing his voice.

Threading their fingers together, John nodded. “Positive.”


	13. Chapter 13

“AR-1 and 2, coming in hot,” Chuck announced as he lowered the shield.

Ioan's heart tripped as it always did when his brother's team was in trouble but he pushed it down and got into position. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Bates do the same. Ioan frowned at the fierceness he read in the other man's posture. He didn't care for it one bit. If he were honest, he didn't much like the man in general. Not many on the city did. Bates was a hardass with a temper. He was the one in charge of base security and, to Ioan's mind, the responsibility had not done the man any favors to his attitude.

Any further thought was pushed aside when stunners came through the gate, followed closely by both teams. Ioan had only enough time to register no major casualties when one final stunner came through the gate just before the shield came back up, hitting McKay square in the face who immediately crumpled to the floor.

“McKay!” Sheppard yelled, dropping to his knees. 

Ioan stared in abject horror at the still form of Rodney, as Sheppard frantically checked for a pulse. Ioan knew he had found it when the Major's body seemed to go lax with relief.

Hitting his com, Ioan barked, “Medical team to the gate room, stat! Man down.” Hurrying over, Ioan's eyes roamed over the others before resting on his brother. Only then did he notice that Evan was limping. Slipping an arm around his waist, Ioan helped him to the stairs so he could sit down. “You okay? What happened?” he asked quietly.

Evan shook his head. “Nothing. Just tripped over a loose rock on the way to the gate. I'll be fine.”

“And the mission? You weren't due back until tonight,” Ioan pressed.

“The Wraith arrived about two hours after we got to the planet. They kept the gate open for a while before we finally managed to dial out. We can scratch that address off the list for possible Alpha sites, obviously,” Evan said with a groan as he attempted to stretch his leg.

Ioan frowned. Another Wraith attack? How many did that make now, where AR-1’s team had encountered them shortly after arriving on a planet, Ioan wondered.

Carson stopped in front of them to check on Evan. “You alright, lad? Think you can make your way to the infirmary on your own?”

Evan glanced at Ioan, then nodded even as Ioan said, “Don't worry, doc, I'll make sure he gets there.”

Carson flashed a brief smile, then hurried back to Rodney who was being put on a gurney. Glancing behind them, Ioan frowned at a scowling Bates. The man looked like he was about to explode. He radiated suspicion and anger – not a good combination in Ioan's book. He shared a knowing look with his brother as he helped him to his feet. They both agreed that trouble was brewing.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“I'm sorry about this, Halling,” Evan said quietly as he prepared to take off. They were ferrying the Athosians to the mainland - a compromise between Weir and the Athosians while they figured out how the Wraith got their intel that continuously seemed to jeopardise their missions. 

It didn't sit well with Evan that the Athosians had been treated more like prisoners than friends, or that Bates had been stoking the fire behind the paranoia that seemed to have come over Weir. Granted, he could see as well as the next person that there was something going on, but his gut told him that Sheppard was right about the Athosians and that there were no spies among them.

Halling sighed, shaking his head. “As am I, Major Lorne. I truly hope that one day your Dr. Weir will find her trust in us again. Perhaps our settling on the mainland will aid with that.”

Offering the man a small smile, Evan nodded. “Perhaps.”

The trip to where the Athosians would be putting up camp took less than half an hour. Evan offered to help get everything moved, but Halling waved him off. “No need, Major Lorne. We will manage. This is not the first time we have had to start again.”

“Alright. Remember, if you or your people need anything, call us. We  _ will _ be there,” he stressed, though he could tell from some of the faces around him that not all the Athosians shared his belief.

Halling, however, nodded. “Thank you, Major.” Evan was touched when Halling made to do the Athosian greeting – though Evan had long since learned it was used both in greetings and goodbyes, as well as offers of support and comfort. 

Touching his forehead to Halling's, Evan murmured, “Be safe, my friend.”

“And you,” Halling replied softly.

With one final glance over the first friends they had made in Pegasus, Evan went back to the jumper and made his way back to the city.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Rodney glowered, arms crossed over his chest as Bates dumped the contents of the bag on his desk. Rodney knew full well that John would never have ordered Teyla's belongings searched and that he would be pissed once he found out Bates had gone behind his back. “You want  _ me  _ to go through her stuff?” he asked incredulously.

Bates, who had already turned to head out the door, glanced over his shoulder with a determined look in his eye. “We're looking for weapons, transmitters, recording devices. Anything that looks like it's beyond the Athosian level of technology.”

Taking a deep breath, Rodney stared at the ceiling, trying to keep a tight rein on his temper. “And if I don't find anything, do we move on to a strip search?” He was feeling queasy. Teyla was his friend, too, and there was just no way she would betray them.

Glaring at him, Bates ordered, “Just do it,” and walked away.

“This isn't right,” Rodney muttered to himself as he reluctantly began sorting through his friend's belongings. He continued talking to himself as he methodically poured over everything. “See, there's nothing here. I can't believe Bates could be so-.” He cut off as he fingered Teyla's necklace. Something seemed off about it, so he carried it over to his computer and began to do a search through the database. His stomach dropped down to his toes as a single, condemning entry popped up on his screen.

He knew Bates would want to know as soon as possible, but Rodney just could not bring himself to radio the sergeant. Instead, he hurried over to the infirmary, certain he would find John there. His thoughts kept snarling, twisting him up inside. Regardless of what the database said, he couldn't believe Teyla capable of working for the Wraith. John trusted her implicitly. That had to mean something, didn't it?

The relief Rodney felt at seeing John sitting next to Ford as he walked into the infirmary was instant. “Major! I err... Oh, Ford. How are you feeling? Pins and needles everywhere?” he asked, genuinely concerned for his teammate. He remembered only too well what it felt like to get hit by a stunner, and not just because he was still dealing with the aftereffects of it off and on.

Ford looked bashful as he explained he had managed to dodge the stunner only to hit his head on a rock on his way down. So merely concussed, Rodney thought, his mind already spinning back to Teyla and what he had uncovered. “Er, Major, there's something I need you to see,” he urged, walking off without waiting to see whether John followed. He was only vaguely aware of Ford calling after them, but his actual words never registered.

The closer they came to his lab, the worse Rodney felt because it meant he would soon be the one to provide immutable proof that Bates had been right about their friend. “What the hell is this?” John asked as soon as he spotted Teyla's things on Rodney's desk.

Taking a deep breath, Rodney briefly closed his eyes before meeting John's. “I know how it looks. Special request from Sergeant Bates.” Oh, how he hated that look in John's eyes. The one that said he was hurt by his betrayal.

“I'm gonna bust that son of a bitch,” John growled.

Rodney didn't doubt that. He sighed. “Major.” He needed to keep a level head. Rodney couldn't appeal to John right now, so he used his title instead, hoping to get through to him.

“Teyla has nothing to do with this,” John protested vehemently.

Jaw clenching, Rodney steeled himself. “Thing is, he was right,” he said quietly.

The anger in John was replaced by shocked disbelief as he gaped at Rodney, who wished he didn't have to deliver the news. “I know, I was as surprised as you are,” he murmured, unable to keep eye contact. Turning to his computer, he pulled up the information on the necklace. “Look at this.”

He beckoned John over. “It's her locket,” he said, holding it up to compare it to the image on the screen. “It's a transmitter. It's been broadcasting a continuous signal. I wouldn't even have noticed if I hadn't been looking for it specifically,” he confessed, his gut churning.

John released a long breath of relief, much to Rodney's surprise. “I found it,” John admitted.

Rodney stared at him, dumbfounded. “What?”

Meeting his gaze, John confided, “I found it. On her planet, the first time we met. Teyla took me to the old ruins. That,” he said, pointing to the locket, “was half buried in dirt.  _ I _ gave it to her.”

Mind racing over the implications, Rodney snapped his fingers. “But that means-,” he paused, then snapped his fingers again, already walking at a clipped pace, clutching the necklace. “We need to talk to Elizabeth. Now.”

Bates was already with Elizabeth when he and John entered the room she had been using to 'interview' the Athosians. Rodney tried not to dwell on that as it still made him uneasy to know just how quickly the light of suspicion had been cast on an innocent people. On their  _ friends _ . Still, with Bates here, it would be easier to allay any further concerns regarding Teyla. He hoped.

Tossing the necklace on the table in front of Elizabeth, Rodney walked back to stand next to John. “The locket's signal isn't strong enough to travel very far, certainly not through subspace. Now, my guess is there are probably relay devices on certain planets that pick up the transmission and then alert the nearest hive ship. Those were the planets where we were attacked.”

“Boy do we owe a few people an apology,” John said with a pointed glance at Bates, who still seemed determined to be right no matter the evidence laid before him. Rodney felt oddly pleased that John was remaining so calm.

Elizabeth shook her head and sighed, relief at Teyla's innocence apparent. “Teyla had no idea that she was giving away your position.”

Rodney smiled, happy that she at least was finally beginning to understand and accept what was going on. John nodded, murmuring, “She said it was a present from her father. She lost it when she was a kid.”

Putting the last pieces of the puzzle together, Rodney nodded to himself. “It was probably dormant until Major Sheppard picked it up, activating it.” Well didn't that make perfect sense. Everything John touched that was Lantean seemed to work for him, so why  _ not _ that locket. 

Bates looked less convinced. “If she wore it as a kid, how come they weren't attacked back then?”

Rodney stared at the sergeant, only barely refraining from asking the man if he was really that stupid. “Didn't I just say it was dormant?” he asked, shaking his head in disbelief.

Bates shrugged, apparently really as dumb as he looked. “But if it's activated by touch, then-.”

“You're not listening,” Rodney retorted, counting silently to ten in order to keep his cool as he gave the sergeant a look that plainly said he was too stupid to breathe the same air as him. “Major Sheppard activated it.”

Elizabeth seemed to get it as she leaned forward. “As far as the Wraith are concerned, Teyla is just another human being.”

Rodney nodded. “They would have no interest in tracking her. Now Major Sheppard on the other hand,” he said, jerking his thumb to the man in question.

Elizabeth finished his sentence. “Has the Ancient gene.”

Grinning, Rodney nodded. “Exactly. Now at one point, the Wraith and the Ancients were at war. The Wraith created or adapted this device to detect Ancients,” he explained, noting that Bates finally seemed to be getting with the program.

John grimaced. “So some Athosian thought this would make a nice little necklace?”

Blinking, Rodney stared at John. Was he kidding? “How could I possibly know that? What am I? Answer man?” As much as the question irked him, it took Rodney a few seconds to realize that it had been rhetorical and that John was trying to hold back a grin. Right. Of course. Giving himself a shake, he tried to let it go. “The point is-.”

Elizabeth interrupted him. “It wasn't Teyla. Or any of the Athosians.”

A light bulb seemed to suddenly go off for John. He leaned on the table, eyes focused on Elizabeth. “If that's the case,” he intoned carefully, “then we can use that against them.”

Rodney was equal parts proud and horrified as John laid out his plan. If he were completely honest with himself, the Wraith terrified him more than anything he had ever encountered. Beings that would steal your life from you by essentially 'eating' your energy and that looked like tricked out Marilyn Mansons to boot? Yeah, that was the stuff of nightmares. Right up there with clowns and Moby Dick.

An hour later his team along with AR 2 and 3 had gathered and they were going over John’s plan again. Rodney was wringing his hands, trying to control the nervous jitters coursing through him – or was that still the aftereffect of that stunner? He wasn't sure. 

John frowned at him, his hand on his hip. “You seem nervous.”

What? What did he mean he didn't have to do this, Rodney wondered. Lifting his chin stubbornly, he forced his body to still. “No. No, I'm part of this team. I'm doing this.”

Bemused, John smiled at him. “Yes, you are. I just said you seem nervous.”

Rodney blinked in confusion. “Oh. I thought you said I didn't have to do this,” he confessed. Wishful thinking, he supposed. “Damn right I'm doing this,” he added, as much to convince himself as John. He might still be new at this whole 'team' thing and having one another's backs, but there was no way in hell he would let John go on this mission without him there.

John grinned. “Yes, you are.” Rodney couldn't quite keep from smiling at the obvious approval in John's voice.

Shaking his head, Rodney tried to focus on what Ford was saying and before long he and the rest of AR-1, 2, and 3 were back on the planet, preparing their ambush. Rodney had to consciously remember how to breathe, fighting the rising fear as Ford radioed John to let him know they had four Wraith incoming. John pressed lightly against his side. “You still look nervous.”

Swallowing hard, Rodney tried to put forth as much confidence as he could. He knew John was worried about him and he had to do what he could to alleviate his concern. He would  _ not _ be the reason this mission would fail, and he would most definitely not be the reason John got hurt. “No. No, I'm good. I can do this.”

Eyeing him carefully for a moment, John finally nodded. “I know you can,” he said reassuringly. Oddly enough, it made Rodney feel a little better. And then there was no more time for worrying. No more time for fear as they launched their attack. Everything went as planned, much to Rodney's astonishment. At least right up until the Wraith they had taken down activated his self-destruct and blew up, nearly taking them with him.

Rodney was momentarily stunned from the blast. John appeared to fare little better but his experience in the field seemed to help him recover much quicker. John grabbed his wrist, his tone urgent. “You alright?”

“Yeah,” he croaked. “This is fun for me.” It wasn't, but no need to tell John that. They still had to finish what they came to do. “Go. Help the others. I'll be fine.”

With a worried look, John got to his knees and touched his cheek briefly before getting to his feet. Once he was gone, Rodney allowed himself a few moments to regain his breath. Once he was sure everything was still functioning as it should, he followed after John. He was glad to see that Ioan, Evan, and the rest of their teams were largely okay. The Lorne brothers were standing on either side of John, all three with guns – or in John's case, a Wraith stunner – trained on their captive.

Helping Teyla to her feet, he patted her arms as he gave her a quick once-over. “You hurt?”

Smiling tiredly, she shook her head. “I am fine, thank you, Rodney.”

Rodney grinned or tried to. They had done it. They had captured a Wraith and without any casualties.

 


	14. Chapter 14

"No. No. No! A thousand times no! How many times do I need to tell you, Kavanagh, I don't want you anywhere _near_ the power distribution systems! The last time you touched them, you nearly blew up the city!” Rodney yelled, throwing his hands in the air in frustration. “ _God_ , why did the stupid therapy have to take on you?” he muttered under his breath, then raised his voice again. “You're a menace, and I do not have the time to babysit you to ensure the safety of this city, so just do as you are told like a good little minion and save us all the trouble of having to fix your screw ups. _Again_.”

Rodney was vaguely aware of the other scientists huddled in groups as he reamed Kavanagh for once again attempting to go behind his back because the idiot thought he knew better than Rodney did. These were the moments Rodney fervently wished he could just space the man, since rotating him back to Earth was not an option. Eyes narrowing, Rodney pointed an accusing finger at Kavanagh. “As I recall, you were happy enough to try to save your own ass when my team and I were stuck in the gate. So it really _astounds_ me that your sense of self-preservation seems to have disappeared.”

Kavanagh, red-faced, fuming, and mouth working soundlessly, glared back at Rodney. Finally, he ground out through his teeth, “I did not sign up for this expedition to become a glorified plumber!”

Not even bothering to hide his contempt for the man, Rodney crossed his arms and shot him a smug look. “Maybe not, but _I_ am the CSO, _not_ you, and _I_ decide who gets to work on which projects. The desalination tanks need going over thoroughly, and you and Simpson get to do the honors. And for the record, I don't hear him complain about it, so why should you?”

When Kavanagh opened his mouth, Rodney held up a hand to stop him. “No. I don't want to hear any more of your whining. Now, I hear that you were offered a one-way trip to a nice, solitary planet. I'm sure Chuck can be convinced to dial the address if you continue to go against my orders, putting the entire expedition at risk.” Pausing just long enough to ensure Kavanagh got the point, he continued. “No? Okay then. Do the job I tell you to do. Now.”

Rodney ignored the mutterings of the other scientists while he stood watching Kavanagh grab his gear in a huff. Simpson rolled his eyes as Kavanagh stomped past him on his way out the door. With one hard look around the room, the others scurried off to tend to their own duties, leaving Rodney alone in the lab. At least, he _thought_ he was alone, right up until someone cleared their throat behind him.

Spinning around, Rodney flushed when John stepped into the room, the door sliding shut behind him as he stalked toward him. Crowding Rodney against the opposite wall, John claimed his lips in a hard, brief kiss that stole the breath right out of Rodney. He was panting when John pulled away only to pepper his jaw with kisses. Nipping at his lobe, John whispered, “That should not have been as hot as it was.”

Clutching at John's shoulders, Rodney chuckled hoarsely. “Hot, huh?”

John pulled back, grinning, eyes dancing. “Oh yeah.”

Rolling his eyes, Rodney huffed. “I swear to God, those kids were easier to deal with than Kavanagh. And _that_ is saying something!”

John laughed, cupping his cheek. “Coming from you, yeah, it is.”

A snort escaped him before he could stop himself. Clearing his throat, he pushed John back a little, needing some space. Anyone could walk in, after all, and they had promised each other to be careful. John gave him an apologetic smile. “Sorry, couldn't help myself,” he muttered, mussing his hair.

“Yes, well, no one ever said flyboys were known for their restraint, now did they?” Rodney teased, folding his arms as he watched him fondly.

A funny little smile played on John's lips. “Funny you should mention flying,” he said playfully. At Rodney's quirked brow, John continued, “I actually came by to see whether you still wanted to have flying lessons before our mission tomorrow. What do you say?”

Eyes widening, Rodney dropped his arms to his side. “What? _Now?”_

John shrugged. “I've got time, and you did say you didn't have anything major on your plate today.”

Bouncing on the balls of his feet, Rodney grinned. “Really?”

Laughing, John nodded. “Yes, Rodney, really. Now, are you coming or not?”

In answer, Rodney grabbed John's arm and manhandled him to the door. “Not yet, but soon,” he said sotto voce, blushing when he caught the glint in John's eyes.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Glancing over at Rodney, John bit his lip. The man was fully engrossed in his pad, taking in readings of the planet they were visiting. Shifting slightly in his seat, John tried to focus on his flying. Try being the operative word, because his thoughts kept circling back to the previous day. He wished Ford and Teyla weren't sitting right behind them so he could tease McKay about joining the mile-high club. Though that would have been a case of the pot calling the kettle black, since his own ticket for that got punched at the same time Rodney's did. Not that the man had believed him when he had told him.

“There's some interesting power readings here,” Rodney muttered distractedly.

“Interesting, how?” John asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Huh? Oh. No ZedPM's, unfortunately, but they're more advanced than any civilization we've come across so far, judging by these,” Rodney said, pointing to the readouts on his pad. “Curious to see what's down there.”

John had to admit that he was, too. From what he could tell of the landscape as he tried to find a good landing spot for the jumper, they seemed to be near to Earth's industrial age. It never ceased to amaze John, the things they came across on their missions.

“Major, it seems as if they are aware of our arrival,” Teyla said quietly, pointing toward movement coming toward the plaza he was headed for.

“Great. A welcoming committee,” Rodney grumbled.

Ford chimed in, “Aww come on, McKay. They seem friendly enough.”

If by friendly, Ford meant they hadn't fired on them yet, then John supposed the lieutenant had a point. John wasn't going to ignore the fact that the man walking toward them was surrounded by men who had their weapons at the ready. Not hostile, but they were definitely prepared.

John cleared his throat. “Alright, kids, let's remember to play nice with others, okay?” He was only half-teasing as he side-eyed Rodney, who scowled down at his pad, jabbing at the screen with more vehemence than John thought was strictly necessary.

Putting on his most charming 'I'm harmless, honest!' smile, John exited the jumper with the others close behind. “Hey folks,” he said, adding a jaunty little wave for good measure. “Hope it's alright if I park here. If not, I can move to a better spot.”

The leader – at least, John was pretty sure the man was the leader – seemed amused as he inclined his head. “Welcome to Hoff. I am Chancellor Druhin, leader of our people.”

Grin widening, John introduced his team as usual, explaining that they were peaceful explorers. The Chancellor seemed to assess them for a moment, then nodded. “You are welcome to stay as our guests. I believe there is much our people can offer each other. Please, if you would follow me?”

It was apparent to John that the man was used to being obeyed. He turned and headed toward one of the larger buildings off the plaza, his entourage in tow. With one look to his team, John set to follow them. He knew he needn't remind Rodney to be careful anymore, especially since they were in an urban setting. Ford and Teyla would both be on alert, too, just in case the Hoffans proved to be less welcoming than they appeared.

They spent the rest of that day and the next as guests of the Chancellor, after contacting Atlantis to let Elizabeth know what was going on. As missions went, this one was going okay. The Chancellor seemed to be willing to discuss possible trade options, which was always a plus in John's book. They were currently on a guided tour of the facility where Rodney had gotten the energy readings from and John was doing his best to pay attention as the Chancellor explained, “Reliable power generation is one of our greatest concerns.”

John and Rodney shared a look. “With this project we soon hope to convert and utilize the intense heat trapped beneath the surface of our planet,” Druhin went on.

“Geothermal energy,” Rodney muttered, frowning. John could tell that Rodney wasn't overly impressed with what he was seeing as they were shown into a room full of machines. Rodney didn't disappoint, either. At least not in showing his disbelief as John had known he would. “Using this? Do you have any idea how complex geothermal energy is?”

John took a steadying breath, briefly closing his eyes. God love the man, but there were times that John wished he would learn when to keep his mouth shut in order not to offend potential allies. Now obviously being one of those times. “McKay,” he cautioned.

“I mean-,” Rodney started, then seemed to catch the warning in John's voice and he turned around, looking slightly abashed. One of these days, John thought, Rodney would learn to better mind his manners. At least, he hoped he would. Though John couldn't deny that the other man's antics were entertaining at times, and probably more often than was healthy in the long run.

Clearing his throat, Rodney cast a furtive glance at John, then addressed Druhin. “Oh, err... I'm sure it'll work like a charm.”

John looked at Druhin just in time to notice the look of disbelief on his face, though he didn't say anything about it. Maybe Druhin had a few scientists of his own who weren't that stellar in the interpersonal department, John thought. Hoping to smooth things over, John flashed him a brief smile. “Looks like you're accomplishing great things here, Chancellor.”

Druhin nodded in acknowledgement. “Since the last culling we have worked diligently to rebuild our society.”

Teyla frowned slightly in worry. “Are you not concerned that your actions will attract the attention of the Wraith?”

“Yes,” Druhin said with a benevolent little smile, sticking his hands into his pockets as he turned to Teyla. “But we refuse to let that stop us from striving to reach our potential. To do otherwise would simply mean victory for them.”

The man sounded like he was explaining something so basic a child would understand. It was a little irritating, but John could sort of see his point. He didn't much like the thought of giving up, either. It just wasn't a word that was in his personal vocabulary, really.

“However, we are currently working on a viable defense,” Druhin said, side-eyeing John to gauge his reaction.

John's attention was well and truly grabbed with the word 'defense', though. Straightening slightly, he faced the Chancellor. “Defense? Really?” He glanced back at Rodney who stepped up to John's side. “We've been here two days before you mention that?” John asked, quirking a brow. He tried to keep any sense of challenge out of his voice, but he wasn't sure how successful he was.

The Chancellor leaned against the door, shrugging unapologetically. “I had to learn that you could be trusted.”

John gave a quiet huff, as did Rodney. John supposed he couldn't really fault the man that, but still! A defense against the Wraith? His mind was already spinning on what possible weapon the Hoffans could have devised to fight the Wraith. From what he had seen thus far, he doubted they would have anything capable of surface-to-air attacks.

Ford apparently was just as doubtful. “You're talking about some kind of defensive weapon?”

Druhin seemed to be gloating a little as he answered slyly. “You could call it that. Something that we hope will protect us from the next Wraith culling.”

Rodney tilted his head, looking speculatively at the Chancellor. “So you're expecting it to happen again.”

The man nodded. “Of course. But if the Wraith return as they have historically, they won't be here for at least another fifty years.”

John cringed. Crap. Yeah, he was pretty certain that _that_ timetable was out the window. Rodney shot him a knowing glare, muttering, “Fifty years, you say?”

Trying not to look too guilty, John took a deep breath. “How about that weapon?”

Druhin headed off even as he began to explain what they were working on. John and Rodney lagged behind and with every step they took, John's stomach fell just a little lower. Especially when Rodney admonished him. “You haven’t told him we practically _woke_ the Wraith from hibernation, have you?”

John swallowed hard past the lump of guilt stuck in his throat. “No, I haven’t. I really… haven’t had the chance,” he hedged, knowing it for the lie it was.

“We’ve been here for two days!” Rodney whispered reprovingly.

Cringing again, John gave a half-shrug. “More like a day-and-a-half.” Okay, and now he was _definitely_ trying to grasp at straws. God, he needed an antacid or something, the way his stomach was starting to churn. He very much doubted the Hoffans would thank him for the knowledge of the Wraith awakening, especially since it was at his own hand.

“Major!” John flinched. It was _never_ a good sign when Rodney used his title in that tone. “They’re not expecting the Wraith for another _fifty. Years._ We have to let them know they could show up at any time now,” Rodney continued, staring hard at John.

Heart beating nearly in his throat, John half-turned as they kept walking, his voice pitched low as he swept an arm out toward the Chancellor. “If you’re so eager, why don’t _you_ tell them?!” The scowl that earned him was deserved, John knew, and he regretted his outburst the moment it had left his lips. Neither man spoke further as they hurried to catch up to the rest of the group, John praying all the way that coming clean wouldn’t mean losing a potential ally and having to fight their way back to the jumper.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Mac scowled down at his laptop, his fingers hitting the keyboard harder than was wise due to his frustration. “Mac?” Evan asked, placing a hand on his shoulder to get his attention. Mac jumped, startled.

“Bloody hell, Ev, you nearly scared me to death,” Mac said, pulling his earbuds out, the sound of Aerosmith pouring out of them until Mac hurriedly turned the music off.

Chuckling, Evan squeezed his shoulder. “Sorry, you were in your own little world and you didn't react when I called your name just now.” Brow furrowing, Evan leaned against the desk. “What's going on? You seem upset.”

Mac huffed. “Aye, you could say that. You haven't heard yet, then?”

Eyes wide, Evan shook his head. “Heard what? I've only just got back from off-world.”

Leaning back in his chair, Mac briefly stared at the ceiling as he tried to regroup. Scrubbing his face, he met Evan's eyes. “You know about the mission AR-1 is on? Well, apparently the major has volunteered us to help them with a drug that they _hope_ will keep the Wraith from feeding on them.”

Crossing his arms, Evan nodded. “That's good, though, isn't it? If they have a way to-” he started, but Mac cut him off.

“No, it's not. I was here when Sheppard explained everything to Carson. They've been working on this thing for over a hundred and fifty years, Evan. Even _if_ , and I stress 'if', such a thing were feasible, it wouldn't be right. Carson's gone over their findings and sent a sample of the drug here. I've looked at it, and there's just something about it that doesn't sit right. I mean, it _looks_ good on the surface, but... I've tried to tell Carson, but he's got blinders on. He sees the pure science of it and isn't...”

Mac let out a growl. “They're talking about testing it already.”

Evan shifted, watching Mac carefully. “Testing? How are they going to do that?”

Mac gave a gruesome smile. “Oh, this is where things get _really_ bad, if you ask me. The Hoffans have a so-called volunteer for the 'procedure'. They're going to give him the drug, and then turn around and, for all intents and purposes, give the man to our friend 'Steve', as Major Sheppard has dubbed him.”

Evan straightened in shock. “They're going to _what?_ ”

“You heard me.” Mac seemed to deflate. “First, do no harm. That's a code we as doctors have to go by. This just isn't right, Ev. I can't see this ending well. I just can't.”

Evan kneeled down beside Mac, resting one hand on his chair, the other cupping Mac's neck. “Have you spoken to Dr. Weir about this?”

Mac closed his eyes and sighed. “Aye. I've gone on record, not that it did any good.”

“Then there's little more you can do. Sometimes, following orders, it's...” Evan trailed off with an awkward shrug, but Mac understood what he wasn't saying. He wholeheartedly agreed.

Chuck's voice came over the com a few hours later. “Dr. MacTavish to the gateroom. Bring a medical team for off-world travel.”

Mac tapped his com. “Chuck, any idea what we're walking into? Do we need hazmat?”

“No need for hazmat, doc,” Chuck assured. “We just got a call from Lieutenant Ford. Apparently, the Hoffans pushed ahead on the drug and it's backfired. They're facing a pandemic among the population. Lieutenant Ford said to bring extra oxygen.”

Rubbing his eyes, Mac nodded. “Copy that. We're on our way.”

It was a testament to Carson's people that the medical team was through the gate not fifteen minutes later. Evan's team was escorting the medical team. Apparently they had volunteered. The thought made Mac smile despite the situation they found themselves in. When they arrived at the hospital, Mac was more than touched by Evan's support, he was bloody grateful. He had thought he was prepared for what he would be facing, but one look at the overcrowded rooms filled with people in various stages of dying... He had worked in the medical field for several years now. Had even worked for Médecins Sans Frontières for a year, something that he had believed adequate preparation for the Atlantis expedition, but this?

“Good God,” Evan murmured as he stood next to Mac.

Shaking his head, he shared a brief look with Evan. “Right. I'll go find Carson. You and the rest of the team see what you can do to relieve the staff.”

Evan nodded, then went on his way after a quick squeeze of Mac's shoulder. Trying to ignore the numerous death rattles, he went in search of Carson so he could be brought up to speed. Carson was trying to administer oxygen to a patient, but by the time Mac had rounded the bed the patient had perished. Taking a steadying breath, Carson glanced up at Mac with such a look of brokenness that Mac didn't have it in him to say 'I told you so' to his friend. Instead, he asked, “What do you need?”

Carson offered a wan smile, then brought him up to speed, and before long both doctors were hip-deep in trying to save lives. Though, in truth, it was more a matter of easing people's suffering, because no matter what they tried, they could find no cure. Nothing to even slow down the onslaught of death once the side effects of the drugs had the patients in its grasp.

Every so often, Evan checked in with Mac, offering support in whatever way he could. Making sure he remembered to eat and drink so he would not end up collapsing from exhaustion. They all worked for hours without pause, aside from necessities, and still it seemed there was no stemming the tide of the dying.

At one point, Mac realized that he hadn't seen Carson in a while. “Hey, Ev, have you seen where Carson went?”

“Yeah, I think he got called to check on that lady doctor he worked with.” Evan pointed in the general direction of where he thought Carson had gone to.

Allowing himself a moment, Mac moved close to Evan, touching his shoulder. The contact helped ground him and he offered the other man a weak smile. “Thank you for coming. It means a lot to have you here like this.”

Reaching up, Evan patted Mac's hand. “You're welcome,” he said simply.

With a nod, Mac walked off, once again in search of his friend. Mac's steps faltered when he discovered Carson at the bedside of the pretty blond doctor. Even with his back to Mac, Carson looked utterly devastated. A closer look told Mac why. Perna had passed away, and the weight of the guilt his friend felt for her death was painfully obvious.

Kneeling next to Carson, Mac placed a gentle hand on the man's back and said quietly, “I'm so sorry, Carson.”

Seemingly unable to speak, Carson nodded jerkily as he stared at the woman's face. Mac wasn't sure what his friend's feelings for the woman had been, but it didn't really matter. Carson felt her loss keenly, and that was all that mattered. They sat by her bed for several minutes, letting the rest of the world pass by. The death rattles that had so shaken Mac upon first arriving had drifted to background noise – something that Mac tried not to think too much on.

It was Carson that roused first, carefully placing Perna's hand down so she almost looked as if she was peacefully sleeping. Carson cleared his throat, scrubbing at his face before turning to face Mac. “Thanks.”

Mac gave him a small smile. “No need.”

Nodding, Carson got to his feet and glanced around with grief and determination clear on his face. Mac thought it would be a long, long time before the events of this day would stop haunting his friend.

“Right,” said Carson gruffly. “I think we're done here.”

Quirking a brow, Mac silently asked if Carson was sure. People were still dying all around them, more sick coming in every minute. Carson set his jaw. “It's time to go home. These people have made up their minds and there isn't anything we can do for them. Not anymore.”

“Alright. I'll pass the word,” Mac said, and putting deed to word he went to find his major.

  
  



	15. Chapter 15

“So how are you going to explain this one to Elizabeth?” Rodney wondered as they trudged back toward the gate. “I mean, you just basically offered the Genii weapons, John, and with how you always seem to imitate Kirk, I'm really surprised you have never heard of a little something called the 'Prime Directive.'”

John snorted, shaking his head. “Oh, please. The only person I know that's anything like the characters from Star Trek is Beckett. I am _nothing_ like Kirk.”

“Ha! Says the man who flirts with every alien person he comes across. Case in point, Sera.”

“Sora,” John corrected him.

“See! See! That's exactly what I mean,” Rodney argued, snapping his fingers before jabbing one in John's chest. “Anyway, so not the point right now. The _point_ is, it is a bad idea to give weapons and technology to a people less advanced than yourself. Every episode where they do that in Star Trek is evidence of it.”

Shaking his head, John began dialing the gate. “Rodney, we're not _in_ Star Trek. And they don't want to have the C4 to use as weapons, they're going to use it to clear fields.”

Folding his arms over his P90, Rodney shot him an incredulous look. “Please, _tell me_ you are _not_ that gullible.” Seriously, he had to be joking, right? There was just no way that John would be stupid enough to believe what the Genii seemed to be selling – and Rodney wasn't talking about _tava_ beans. He still felt a small pang of disappointment that it hadn't been javabeans. His supply of coffee was running dangerously low.

Sounding calm and with a look of extreme patience, John met his eyes. “They will get the C4, enough to clear a few fields, and along _with_ the C4 will be a few Marines to ensure that is all it'll be used for, because they will be the ones that have the detonators. And to make sure we get our Marines back the way we sent them out, I'll be sending along a cloaked jumper for back up.”

Rodney blinked. “You don't trust them.”

“I don't trust them,” John intoned quietly with a slight dip of the head.

“But then, why-?” He was confused, head swiveling between John and back toward the village where Teyla and Ford were staying behind for the harvest festival. Teyla's reaction to the invitation had been more than enough incentive for Rodney to not want to hang around, but now he began to wonder if he should have stayed with them. Were they safe?

Pulling Rodney toward the gate, John explained, “It's a simple quid pro quo, Rodney. They have something we need, we have something they want. We scratch their back and _hopefully,_ they will scratch ours. Or as the case may be, they'll give us a large share of their crop. And that is exactly what I'll tell Elizabeth, too.”

Rodney felt oddly proud as they stepped through the gate. Once back in Atlantis, he grinned at John. “You know, you're a lot more devious than you look.”

John snorted. “Thanks? But let's just keep that between you and me, okay? Our little secret.”

“What will be your little secret?” Elizabeth asked with a curious grin.

Eyes widened, Rodney scrambled to think of an excuse, but John beat him to the punch. “Well if I told you that, it wouldn't be a secret anymore, now would it?”

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing them. Folding her arms, she tried to keep from smiling. “Fair enough. So where's the rest of your team, Major?”

John and Rodney shared a glance, then John jerked his head toward her office. As soon as they were inside, he started to explain what had happened, but once the words 'give them some C4' passed his lips, Elizabeth held up her hand. “Rodney, would you mind stepping outside for a moment. I need a word alone with Major Sheppard.”

Her eyes were hard and never left John, who gazed steadily back at her, though he did cast a brief, reassuring smile at Rodney. After a moment's hesitation, Rodney cleared his throat and with one last look over his shoulder, he left the office. As soon as the door closed behind him, he could hear Elizabeth's raised voice, “ _Give_ them C4? Major, what were you _thinking?_ ”

Rodney wanted to cringe but he held his head up, daring anyone to say anything. Grodin gave him a sympathetic look as he walked past him. Sighing, Rodney headed down the stairs, figuring he might as well swing by the mess hall for a snack. He had a feeling Elizabeth and John would be a little while.

Ioan fell into step as he walked toward the transporter. “Everything alright?” he asked quietly.

Shrugging, Rodney hit the control panel as soon as he was inside, sending them near the mess hall. “I don't think Elizabeth's too keen on Major Sheppard's negotiation skills.”

Rodney told Ioan what had happened over coffee, and, when he was done, Ioan barked a laugh. “So he basically just violated the Prime Directive?”

Snapping his fingers, Rodney grinned with satisfaction. “See! That's exactly what I told him, too! I think we need to give him a refresher course on all things Trek because the man is obviously way too much like Kirk and he doesn't even realize it.”

Ioan laughed, twisting his empty cup back and forth. “Well, that shouldn't be a problem. I think Teal'c made sure to add the entirety of Star Trek to the library, so we could totally have a themed movie night for the next few weeks.”

“Oh, I'm all for that. Seriously, the man needs to be better educated.”

“I do, huh?” John drawled from behind Rodney, causing him to jump.

Blushing slightly, Rodney put up a faux-confident front. “Major! Yes, you really do. Ioan's already said he'll help me-,” he started.

Ioan threw up his hands, interrupting him. “Hey, you leave me out of this. I have no desire to be on KP duty for the next two months – or _worse_.”

Rodney narrowed his eyes at Ioan, who grinned back unabashed. “Traitor,” Rodney hissed under his breath. “Just you remember who's in charge of your hot water.”

“Relax, Lieutenant. I'll let you off the hook. This time,” John said, amusement clear in his voice. “Well, Rodney, you ready to head back?”

Eyes widening, Rodney got to his feet. “Did she okay the deal?”

“Yes, Rodney,” John said patiently, “she okayed the deal, now come on. We gotta go or we'll miss the whole harvest party.”

And wouldn't that be a shame, Rodney thought. Casting a wary eye at John, Rodney wasn't _entirely_ sure the man was serious or not, but decided to just go with it. It was usually best, he'd found, to pretend he understood what people were doing and why, even if he didn't have a clue. Though lately, he found himself actually _wanting_ to understand the inner workings of one Major Sheppard.

As they made their way back to the gate, John led them away from the path they had been told to use. After about half an hour of walking, Rodney was certain they were lost. It had taken him that long to figure it out because he had been focusing on his handheld out of long habit. Looking up, he shook his head. “You have no idea which way to go, do you?” he asked, somewhat amused. It had become apparent over time that while John had a great sense of direction when flying, he was less able to figure out where to go when on foot.

John looked a little affronted as he always did upon being reminded of that particular failing. “I'm just trying to get my bearings.”

Rodney's mouth twisted as he suppressed a smirk. “Translation: I'm lost.” He tried to keep his amusement out of his voice, he really did. Barely stifling a chuckle, Rodney flailed his arm in the general direction of the village – at least, he thought it was the direction of the village. “They were very clear on which route to take,” he reminded John.

“I prefer a straight line,” he grumped, stubbornly continuing along their path.

Rodney huffed softly. “Of course, because everything's a shortcut in Sheppard's world,” he murmured, peering at his handheld again. “Huh.” Well that was decidedly odd. “Okay, here it is again,” he muttered, frowning at the spike in energy he was reading.

“What?” John came to a halt, eyeing him expectantly.

Glancing up, Rodney pointed ahead. “I'm picking up a strange reading from right over there.” A barn? That just made no sense.

“Define 'strange',” John cut through Rodney's thoughts.

Rodney blinked stupidly at him. “You don't know what 'strange' means?” Seriously?”

Rolling his eyes, John pressed, “I know what 'strange' means, Rodney.”

“Weird, freakish, off,” Rodney spoke over him, even as John continued, “I'm just trying to determine whether it's worth getting off the route back to the village.”

Waving his handheld, Rodney gave him an exasperated look. “It's a radioactive reading and we're in Amish world. Your call.” And the fact he was even putting the words 'Amish' and 'radioactive' in the same sentence was enough to weird Rodney out. There was something really 'off' about these people, he decided. Shaking his head, he added, “We're lost anyway, what difference does it make?”

“I am _not_ lost,” John insisted, squaring his shoulders a little. Rodney watched John's face closely, wondering who the man was trying to fool. It was both an endearing and decidedly frustrating aspect of Sheppard, Rodney decided even as John said, “Alright. Let's check it out.”

Yeah, Rodney was so not surprised by that. Sighing, he followed John. He had the sinking feeling their day was about to take a turn for the worse.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Major Sheppard took Ioan and Evan aside, leaving their teams to prepare for the mission, and met their eyes in turn. “I need for you to stay under the radar. Do _not_ announce your presence until you hear from me. Is that clear?”

Ioan and Evan shared a glance, then both nodded. “Yes, sir.” It wouldn’t do to give their hand away too quickly to the Genii, Evan knew. Not after the briefing they had just had about them holding half of AR-1 hostage - and that was _after_ them having threatened to kill the entire team outright. Allies, they were not. However, the Genii were the closest thing they had in Pegasus to a potential aid in taking out the Wraith and they were definitely determined to wipe them out, as evidenced by this little trip to blow up one of the Hive ships with one of the prototype nuclear bombs the Genii had created.

“Good. Evan, you'll follow me on to the Hive ship.”

“Comms as usual? Ears only?” Evan asked, just to make sure.

“Affirmative,” Sheppard acknowledged. “Ioan, I want you to stay on the Genii homeworld and keep an eye on things. Once the mission is over, I fully expect them to double cross us, so when I say, you decloak immediately and be ready to fire a warning shot.”

Evan inclined his head. “Yes, sir. We have your six, sir.”

“Excellent. Alright, let's move out,” Major Sheppard ordered, heading to jumper one.

Before Ioan could walk away, Evan grabbed his arm, frowning. “Be careful out there. I really don't like the sound of those people,” he urged. He didn't much care for the idea of leaving his little brother behind on that planet, but he trusted him to do his job, and he knew Sheppard was right.

Ioan smiled reassuringly. “Of course, Ev. As long as you're careful, too. I'm not the one searching out a Hive ship.”

Flashing Ioan a grin, he let go. “You know me, Ioan. I don't go looking for trouble.”

Ioan huffed. “Yeah, but it always seems to find you anyway,” he retorted.

Evan smiled at the old, familiar exchange. “Go on. Before we're both reprimanded.”

With a brief salute and a laugh Ioan went to join his team in jumper two, while Evan went to jumper three. Going through the motions of pre-flight – not that the jumpers had a whole lot to do in that regard, not compared to Earth vessels at any rate – Evan allowed himself a moment to marvel at everything they had discovered since coming to Atlantis. He would readily admit that the jumpers were by far his favorite part.

Timing their departure carefully, they made it through the gate without being detected by the Genii. His scanners showed no signs of life in the immediate vicinity of the stargate, which was all the better. They also showed the Genii underground complex Major Sheppard had mentioned. Evan glanced to the left where he knew Ioan and his team were, even though he couldn't see them.

They listened as Sheppard, who had his comms open so they could all hear, and a Genii called Cowan went over the plan again. Cowan insisted on coming along, stating that he had memorized the layout of the Hive ship and that he would not trust the Lanteans to do their part without him present.

Evan’s jaw twitched in annoyance at the disdain and distrust evident in the man’s voice and he shared a determined look with his team as they listened to Sheppard and the rest of AR-1 returned to their jumper with Cowan and another Genii in tow, and as soon as they were on board, the gate began to spin. Checking that everything was still as it should be, Evan prepared to follow them. No one had spoken, aside from a terse, “Have a seat,” from Sheppard.

Once they arrived on the other side, Evan scowled when they heard one of the Genii – Cowan, Evan thought – say, “How many of these ships do you have?” Evan didn't care for the man's tone at all. It sounded almost proprietary to his ears, and judging by Sheppard's curt, “Just the one,” Evan thought he felt the same.

“Alright. Same as last time. Through the front door,” came Sheppard's voice not long after. Evan checked his screen, adjusting his course slightly to match the major's and followed him inside, straight through the main entrance. It still baffled Evan that the Wraith had no security in that respect, but then he supposed they probably never had to deal with anyone with the technology or the brass to just go waltzing into a Hive ship before.

Evan and his men watched as the other team disembarked, and John turned to Ford. “Okay. Hold down the fort,” he said with a brief glance to where he knew jumper three to be.

That was another thing that never ceased to amaze Evan. Because of how strong his gene was, John could sense Ancient technology like the jumpers when they were within a certain range. “That's one thing we really should test one of these days,” he muttered quietly to himself.

“What was that, Major?” Stevenson asked from the co-pilot's seat.

Evan shook his head. “Nothing. Keep an eye on things. I want to be ready in case they need our help.”

“Yes, sir,” echoed quietly through the jumper as his team acknowledged his order.

They sat in silence as they listened to the other team make their way through the Hive ship. Evan's stomach flipped at Teyla's, “These people were cocooned for later feeding.” He shuddered at the mental image that brought forth. He wasn't sure whether it was a curse or a blessing that he didn't have an actual visual.

“We don't have time for this.” Cowan again, thought Evan.

“They could be your people for all you know,” John ground out, disgust clear in his voice. He ordered Teyla to take care of this, which Evan thought likely meant trying to save whomever they had found. Sheppard and McKay went with Cowan. With a jerk of the head Evan had Stevenson monitor Teyla while he remained focused on the others.

Cowan's, “This is it, but the ship's plans I memorized did not include how to operate this door,” had Evan paying even closer attention. There was a pause, and then Sheppard's, “Trying to blow this door'll make too much noise.” Damn, that couldn't be good. But Sheppard had said to stay cloaked unless ordered, so all he could do was listen.

McKay's, “Hm. So, find another way. Okay,” made Evan smile. Back in the mountain, Evan hadn't much cared for the man. In truth, he hadn't really known him, but he had heard stories about him and none had been good. The few times he had had dealings with him, McKay's abrasive behaviour had confirmed the rumors and Evan had decided to steer clear of the man as much as possible.

Ioan, on the other hand, had had more opportunity to spend time with McKay and genuinely liked him. Something that at the time had positively baffled Evan. Now, though, he could see why his brother had taken to the man. Though he supposed it helped that Mac always spoke highly of McKay, and his opinion carried more weight than Evan would ever admit to anyone aside from his brother.

Evan was vaguely aware of Teyla and the other Genii arguing when gunfire erupted. Evan and Stevenson shared a look of horror, then exhaled in relief when they heard Teyla's consternation over the radio. She didn't sound hurt, just shocked and pissed. A dangerous combination with her, Evan had learned. Teyla's voice came over the comms, “Major, we have been discovered.”

A piercing alarm sounded. Outside, Ford straightened, his gun ready. Evan held up a hand when his team made to head out. “Not yet,” he said, hating the thought as much as they did. Sheppard's voice chimed, “We gotta get outta here. Ford, we're on our way, hold tight.”

His team breathed as one. While Sheppard had spoken to Ford, the message had been for them. The next few minutes seemed to crawl by as they waited for them to return to the jumper. Thankfully, there were no more sounds of gunfire, and before too long, they came running toward them. Evan wondered where the other Genii was, but wasted no time following John out of the Hive and back to the planet.

As Sheppard had predicted, the minute they had set foot on the Genii homeworld again, Cowan turned on them. Soldiers poured out of the surrounding area, armed to the teeth and trigger-happy. Stevenson huffed. “Well didn't see that one a mile off, eh?”

The others chuckled. None of them were particularly worried as Cowan attempted to bully AR-1 into giving up their weapons, the jumper, and their C-4. Evan noticed how Teyla seemed to bristle at the betrayal of the Genii. “This is what your father died for? In the name of a people who would lie and steal from those they would call friends?” he heard her say.

“Yeah, well, I lied, too,” Sheppard said. “Jumpers two and three, execute.”

Evan decloaked at once, relieved to see Ioan do the same. He had to admit, it was rather rewarding to see the Genii startle at the sudden appearance of two jumpers hovering close by.

“You didn't really think we had one ship, did you?” John asked Cowan. Evan snorted at the murderous look that earned Sheppard. John continued,” Tell your people to get back, nobody gets hurt.” When Cowan didn't budge, the major straightened. “Jumper two, prepare to fire on my mark.”

Evan could just see his brother in the other cockpit. Their eyes met and he gave him a terse nod. Either the Genii would back off, or things were about to get dicey. Sheppard raised his hand to give the order, but paused when Cowan took a step forward. “Wait!”

Stevenson grunted. When Evan glanced at him, he merely shrugged. “The guy's a coward.”

They could hear Cowan's warning to Sheppard. “You do not want to make an enemy of the Genii.” Evan hummed in agreement with John's assurance that it went both ways.

Once AR-1 was back in their jumper, John said, “Time to go home, gentlemen.”

With one last glance at the crowd they were leaving behind, Evan had the terrible feeling that they had not seen the last of the Genii. He really hoped he was wrong, because he didn't think the Genii were a people who took defeat lightly, and they looked as if they could carry a grudge for a very, very long time.

 

 


	16. Chapter 16

“Hello, Kate,” Mac said as he looked up from his pad. “What brings you to the infirmary?”

She smiled, handing him a folder. “Actually, I need you or Carson to sign off on a script for one of my patients, since they're on medication for a chronic condition as well.”

Taking the folder from her, he walked into his office and sat down to read it, Kate following behind and sitting opposite him. “Right,” he murmured, grabbing a pen to scribble a note and handing the folder back to her. “What you have shouldn't interact with the prescription he's already on, but all the same I would prefer if he popped by for a check up.”

Kate nodded. “Of course. I'll pass it along.” Mac's laptop beeped. Quirking a brow, she glanced at it. “Something important?”

Mac shrugged. “Not particularly. Kimberly is working on a search program for the Ancient database and I'm testing it out for her. It was just letting me know it hit results.”

“Ah. Yes, I imagine it would make life a lot easier for the departments if the database were easier to navigate. I've heard Dr. McKay offer his opinion often enough on the state of it,” she said, grinning.

Mac chuckled. “Aye, he has.” Leaning back in his chair, he eyed her carefully. “So how are you doing, Kate?”

Kate's eyebrows rose further, her smile bemused now. “Shrinking the shrink?” she quipped. “I'm doing alright. I'm still getting used to having the Ancient technology work for me, to be honest. I find it slightly disconcerting to be able to lock a door by merely thinking about it, for example. Don't get me wrong, it comes in handy at times, but with my line of work, you can't help but ponder on what some of the consequences could be under certain circumstances.”

Narrowing his eyes, Mac leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk. “Do you think that's something we need to worry about?” Mac knew that Kate referred to the potential of the control being used against someone. As thorough as the screening had been for the expedition, he was well aware that there were some things that couldn't always be caught until it was too late. Mac certainly hoped that they never would have to deal with any form of abuse among their people. They had more than enough to deal with in the day-to-day life in Pegasus, in his opinion, without adding that to the mix.

Kate inclined her head slightly. “It's something I'll always be wary of. I've seen too much not to, truth be told.”

Sighing, Mac nodded in understanding. “Aye, I know.” The laptop chimed again and Mac smiled apologetically.

Kate got to her feet. “I'll let you get back to work. It sounds like you've got some reading to do,” she said easily.

“You let us know if something happens, won't you?” Mac understood patient/doctor confidentiality, but there were things that he felt needed addressing ASAP if they ever cropped up.

“Of course, Mac. And that goes for you, too.”

“But of course.” Mac agreed readily. “It's our duty to see to the health and safety of the expedition, after all. In every capacity.”

“So it is.” Kate smiled as she came around the desk and patted his shoulder. “Hope you find whatever it is you were looking for,” she said with a tilt of her head toward the screen.

He grinned. “Thanks. I'll see you later, okay?”

With a nod of acknowledgement she headed out the door, leaving Mac to pore over his findings. He was rather glad that Carson was out on the mainland today because he had put Kimberly's program to work looking for anything related to the DNA markers they had discovered, despite Carson's insistence they stop looking. As he read over the results, his stomach flipped and his mind started to race. The markers were indicators of a soul bond? How was that even possible! Yet it seemed like that was the case.

Needing to confirm what he had read, Mac pulled up the results of the tests again and began to compile a list of matches. It took him a couple of hours to complete it, and, as he read over the names, it dawned on him that the list was incomplete. Every single ATA-carrier was on it – with or without a match in the system - except for Mac and one other.

Evan Lorne.

Mac's heart beat wildly as he searched for their results. He frowned when he found them in a folder Carson had created and which included at least one of the logs that Mac's search had brought up. Hand shaking, he clicked open the files and stared at his screen. They were a match. Evan was his soulmate, whatever that meant.

Worse, Carson had known and he had kept it from them. He had _asked_ for Mac's help, even. Stunned, Mac cupped his hands, covering his nose and mouth, eyes fixed on the markers. He couldn't have looked away if he wanted to. His mind was spinning like mad on what this might mean for him. For Evan – especially for Evan. Growing up, he had heard people talk of soulmates, of course, but it had always been an over-romanticized notion to him. Something that simply meant two people feeling a profound love for each other, but this? This implied there was so much more to it than that.

Mac felt uneasy, almost unwilling as he minimized the screen when the search chimed again. Pulling up the latest logs, he started reading. The leaden feeling in his stomach got worse the more he read, eventually feeling more like molten lava than lead. The log contained the findings of a researcher into the soulbond, showing some of the core attributes of soulmates.

On the whole, it seemed as the two bonded were – and for some reason _Mary Poppins_ popped in his head – 'practically perfect in every way'. On some levels, they provided a yin/yang balance, on others, they were equally matched. They would _always_ be drawn to each other and, though they could certainly find love outside of a soulbond if for some reason they never met their mate, they would never be complete without them.

Once a soul bond had been connected and fully consummated, they would gain a sense of each other much like one would with Ancient tech. You would know they were near, if they were hurt, and when they died, it was devastating to the mate left behind. Often, they would follow soon after, but there were a few cases mentioned where the surviving mate lived on, though it didn't mention details.

Pushing away from his desk, Mac stumbled to his feet and began pacing his office. This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be _real!_ Yet Mac couldn't deny that he could feel the truth of it down to his bones. Scrubbing his face, he stared at the back of his laptop.

Evan was his soulmate, and Carson had known. Those were the two things Mac kept coming back to, unable to truly reconcile either. He was beyond pissed with Carson for the lack of honesty – or even outright betrayal – for keeping something as important as this from him. Why had the man not told him? Why had he insisted on stopping the search for further information? It didn't make sense to him, and it hurt him on a level he couldn't even begin to name.

And then there was Evan. What was Mac supposed to do now? How on Earth could he tell Evan they were soulmates after learning about Jim? He wasn't naïve enough to believe that it wouldn't mess with Evan's head and heart to learn that the love of his life was not the mate of his soul. Yet how could he _not_ tell? Keeping it from Evan would put him just as much at fault as Carson. Mac couldn't see how either scenario would be a good thing for them. It would be a blow to Evan no matter what he ended up doing, and he wasn't entirely certain their relationship, if one could call it that yet, could stand that sort of trial. Even if they were mates.

“Oh, fuck me,” he muttered desperately, lodging his fingers in his hair as he stared up at the ceiling.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“So,” Ioan said quietly while he waited for Kimberly to be done for the day. Casting a furtive glance around the room to ensure no one was within earshot, Ioan added, “It's movie night tonight.”

Kimberly's mouth twitched. “You don't say?” She was falling hard for Ioan, she knew that, but she couldn't resist teasing him.

The glare that came her way was mild at best and it had her stifling a chuckle. “They're showing _The Wizard of Oz_. I thought maybe we could go see it together?”

Kimberly cast him a sideways look, taking in the faux-casual stance he was trying to convey, but she could see the underlying tension by the way his fingers twitched against his thigh. Like he was trying to keep from touching her. It made her smile. “Another date?” she whispered.

Ioan nodded, chewing the inside of his lip. She tapped her chin. “Which version?” she asked, attempting to keep a straight face.

“The Judy Garland one. Mitchell insisted,” Ioan said, sounding amused.

Grinning, she leaned against her desk. “Did he? Well, well, well, fancy that. Alright, then. _The Wizard of Oz_ , it is.” She had the sense to not add 'it's a date'. “What time does it start?”

Checking his watch, Ioan shrugged. “About an hour and a half from now, so we'll have time to grab a bite to eat beforehand.”

Turning back to what she was doing, she nodded. “Guess I'd better hurry up then. I would like to change into something not uniform-ish, if that's okay with you.”

She could tell he was grinning as he stepped back. “Okay. I'll leave you to it. Mess hall in fifteen?”

Kimberly nodded. “I'll see you then.” She looked up to watch Ioan leave. She really was in trouble with him. Ioan appeared to be everything she'd ever wanted in a guy. Handsome, intelligent, loyal, brave, to name a few. And he seemed as taken with her as she was with him. She had never felt such a connection with anyone before, not that she had had a ton of boyfriends. She had been busy with either her studies or work, after all, but she wasn't a virgin either.

Sighing, she shook her head at herself. It was all well and good, but the fact that they worked together bothered her. Not so much from her own sense of mores on the issue, but because of the regulations they had to work under. Still, she couldn't wish for things to be different because if either of them hadn't worked for the SGA, they would never have met at all. And life without Ioan in it seemed to be unfathomable to her already and they hadn't even so much as kissed yet.

Hurrying through the process of logging out and putting the few things away that needed to be, she made it back to her apartment with just enough time to change into her favorite blue jeans and black knit sweater. Suppressing the nervous flutters in her stomach as she entered the mess hall, she scanned the room for Ioan. Kimberly frowned, feeling a little disappointed when she couldn't find him.

A hand on her shoulder made her jump, and she turned to find Ioan standing behind her, grinning. “Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. I bumped into Evan on my way down and got held up. You ready to grab a bite?”

Eyeing him carefully, she tilted her head. “Everything alright with Evan?”

Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Ioan nodded. “Yeah, he just needed to check on something for tomorrow's mission is all.”

Good. She was glad. She had seen Mac earlier and he had seemed upset, though he refused to talk to her about it. She had gone to check on what he thought of her program now that he had used it for a couple of days. She always liked to have other people check on things like that, because while she knew how something was supposed to work and found it easy to use a program she had created, she had realized early on in her career that the same could not be said for someone not as skilled with computers. Which is why she had given access to Mac, Major Sheppard, and Elizabeth for them to give her input.

Putting on her brightest smile to cover her worry for her friend, she nodded. “Then let's eat, shall we? We can't be late for the movie,” she added with a wink as she made her way to the line. They spent dinner talking, mostly about her new search program and Ioan's upcoming mission to a potential trade world. They were so engrossed, they almost didn't make it to the makeshift theater on time. The theater was basically a large room that had a blank wall and enough space to place several rows of chairs. Not the most comfortable of ways to watch a movie, but it gave a bit of normalcy and nostalgia that everyone was willing to put up with.

Sliding into their seats, Kimberly noticed Carson and Miko a couple of rows in front of them. Good for them, she thought. As the music started, she leaned into Ioan and whispered in his ear, “I have a feeling we're not the only ones here on a date.”

Ioan shivered, turning to look at her questioningly. Jerking her head to indicate Carson and Miko, she grinned up at Ioan. “Carson's been in love with Miko for ages, and she him. They just keep tap dancing around each other. Looks like one of them finally asked the other out.”

There was an unreadable look in Ioan's eye as he shook his head. “I'm not so sure. I heard Carson talk about the movie at lunch. Miko overheard him and asked about it. She said something about loving old movies and when Carson suggested they go together the man all but stumbled all over himself to reassure her there was no hidden agenda.”

Kimberly groaned, closing her eyes as she rested her forehead against Ioan's shoulder. “Please tell me you're joking,” she mumbled.

Briefly reaching up to touch her cheek, Ioan chuckled softly. “Sorry.”

Straightening, Kimberly sighed and shrugged with a 'well, what can you do?' look at Ioan. Their eyes met and it took all her willpower not to lean in and kiss him there and then. Oh, how she wanted to feel his lips against hers. Ioan, too, appeared to be struggling before shaking his head and clearing his throat. “Movie?” he asked hoarsely.

Shifting, she sat as close to him as she dared without it being inappropriate and tried to pay attention to the movie. Maybe she could convince Ioan to come to her apartment afterward, and they could finally have that kiss. Or even more.

 


	17. Chapter 17

“It shouldn't be too difficult,” Rodney noted as they headed toward the transporter. “Radek found some artifacts that require a stronger gene than what any of us has to make them work. At least, that's his guess, since not even Miko or Carson could make it do anything. They're both certain it is Ancient, though.”

“Yeah, okay. Been awhile since I had to play lightswitch,” John said, amused. “I've already cleared a block of time this morning.” He was actually looking forward to spending time in the labs. Aside from the fact that it meant being near Rodney, he enjoyed hanging out with the geeks. Some people thought it strange, but he didn't care. Not even Rodney knew that John could have been in Mensa, and while Rodney had read his file and was aware of John's masters in math, he still hadn't quite caught on to the fact that he _liked_ math. It was one of John's guilty pleasures to secretly correct the scientists' math behind their backs. It amused him greatly to have them return from a break and find their work changed for the better and no one being the wiser. It was almost a sport to him.

Rodney shot him a pleased smile that warmed John's insides. He looked so unguarded in that moment that it took some effort for John to not drag him into a closet or empty room and kiss the man senseless. They were rounding the corner to Rodney's lab when Teyla called from behind them. “Major Sheppard!”

Both Rodney and John turned, surprised to find their friend and teammate trotting down the corridor toward them. When she reached them, she offered them each a smile. “Teyla, everything okay?” John asked, wondering why she had sought him out rather than radio him.

“Dr. McKay, Major Sheppard. I apologize. I tried to catch you in the mess hall but you had already left by the time I got there,” she explained.

Sharing a look of confusion with Rodney, John murmured, “Okaaaaay. So what's going on?”

Taking a steadying breath, Teyla focused on John. “I was hoping you would be willing to fly me to the mainland.”

Tilting his head, John took a moment to observe his friend. Even after months since the debacle with the transmitter and everything that had happened, her relationship with her people was still strained. She loved them dearly, fought for them every single day, but the fact that she had chosen to remain on Atlantis and had stood by Elizabeth, rather than side with her people and leave had cost her a great deal.

Casting a sideways look at Rodney, he nodded. “Sure, Teyla. You don't mind, do you, Rodney?”

Rodney blinked at him in surprise. “What? Mind? No, no, of course not. Radek can wait, it isn't like he doesn't have ten other projects that need his attention. Go! Say hello to Jinto for me.”

Teyla's relief was plain to see, as was her genuine amusement and pleasure at Rodney's inclusion of Jinto. The boy held a special place in their hearts since that time he had gotten lost in the city and released the energy being the Ancients had captured. John wasn't entirely sure _how_ that had ended up making Rodney warm to the boy, but it had. Teyla inclined her head gratefully. “Thank you. I will meet you in the jumper bay in fifteen minutes?”

“I'll be there,” John assured, smiling. They watched her leave, and as soon as she was out of sight, John grabbed Rodney's arm and pulled him into an empty lab, the door immediately locking behind them.

“You sure you're alright with me ditching?” John met his gaze searchingly. He didn't doubt that Rodney was as concerned for Teyla as he was, or that he hadn't been truthful in saying it was okay, but a part of him still needed the reassurance.

“Of course. I mean, if it had been anyone else, I would have told them what they could do with their request, but this was _Teyla_. She doesn't get to spend nearly as much time with her people. You really think I'd get in the way of her actually going?” Rodney asked incredulously.

Cupping Rodney's face in his hands, John pressed a gentle kiss to the man's lips. “No, I don't. But I'm not the only pilot and I _did_ promise to help out today.”

Huffing, Rodney crossed his arms as he gave him a narrow look. “John Sheppard, just what do you take me for? Teyla came to _you_ for help. She asked _you_. Teyla rarely if _ever_ asks anyone anything for herself, and she's always there for us. I might not be very good at this whole 'friends' thing and new to the whole 'team' thing, but Teyla is both and that counts for something.” He frowned, suddenly seeming unsure. “Right?”

John grinned. “You're absolutely right. I am sorry though, was looking forward to hanging out in the labs today.”

Rodney surprised him by fisting his shirt and pulling him in for a searing kiss that left John kind of dizzy. With a look of satisfaction on his face, Rodney whispered roughly, “I know, me too. Now get the hell out of here before we make a liar out of you.”

John's lips twitched in amusement. “Sir, yes, sir,” he mumbled, causing Rodney to blush. The sudden gleam in his eyes nearly made John reconsider, but the door suddenly opening was enough to douse his arousal. _That_ was going to be something they would have to explore at some point, he promised himself as he hurried to the jumper bay.

When he got to the jumper, Teyla was already loading things she had traded for on behalf of her people. It wasn't much and it didn't take them long to finish the task. John couldn't help but wonder whether this was a normal haul for her or not. Once in the air, Teyla busied herself rearranging the wares while John only half paid attention to flying. After a few minutes, John prodded cautiously, “You haven't been to the mainland for a while. How is everybody settling in?”

Leaning on the console next to him, Teyla smiled tentatively. “Halling believes the first crops will have a good yield.”

Okay... not _exactly_ the kind of answer he had hoped for. He knew evasion when he saw it and debated whether to call her out on it. Deciding to leave it for now, he asked instead, “Do they still miss home?” He carefully kept his eyes on his flying in order to give her space.

“There is...” Teyla hesitated, then sighed. “Still talk of returning. Even though I've told them the Wraith have scorched Athos bare in revenge for our resistance.”

John's heart went out to his friend. He could hear the longing for the place she had lived her whole life. Hear how much she missed her people. Her friends, and those she considered family. “Well, maybe given time, this will start to feel like home,” he offered hopefully with a sideways glance at Teyla before checking their course.

Teyla's worried, “Do you see that?” had him looking up. It took him a moment for what his eyes were seeing to compute. What in the world was _that?_ “That can't be a storm. It stretches across the whole horizon,” he mumbled in disbelief.

Teyla frowned, sounding awed. “I've never seen something like that from so high.”

He couldn't help but smile a little at her amazement. He had to remind himself that the Athosians didn't have flight capability, and that flying was still new to Teyla and her people. For John, it was old hat, even if the jumpers were nothing like any aircraft he'd flown on Earth. Still, he was pretty awed himself at what he was seeing now. “I've seen a lot of things from this altitude, but nothing like _that_ ,” he admitted.

Hitting the comms, John said, “Atlantis base, this is jumper one. We're gonna change our heading to investigate a storm.”

Weir's voice crackled in response. “Major, this is …. copy that.... breaking up.”

John shared a concerned look with Teyla as she slipped into the co-pilot's seat. “Atlantis, I said we're going to investigate a storm. It looks to be headed your way, so we're going to do a little weather forecasting. Sheppard out.”

Figuring the best way to get a clear idea of the scale of the storm was to see it from above, John took them into low orbit. He blinked at the scope of the storm. The damned thing took up most of the viewscreen from up here.That could not be a good thing.

Teyla's concern seeped into his already growing alarm. “Do all storms look like this from above?” She sounded almost hopeful.

He hated to burst that bubble. He shook his head, eyes fixed on the storm. “No.” Pulling up the HUD, he scanned the readings. Dread filled him as he eyed the darkening sky ahead. “This one's supposed to cover twenty percent of the planet,” he said incredulously. That couldn't possibly be right, could it?

Taking a steadying breath, Teyla tried to read the HUD. “Is it headed toward the mainland?”

“It's tracking right toward the settlement,” he confirmed. Oh yeah, that was very, very bad news. There was no way that the Athosians would be able to make it through a storm that big in one piece. Crap. Taking in the readings that continued to pour in, John's stomach plummeted.

“And after that?” asked Teyla, sounding resigned.

Glancing at her, John swallowed. “Straight to Atlantis.” Taking a few last readings in order to give the scientists a more complete picture, John turned to Teyla. “We have to get back to the city. Warn them so we can prepare.” Teyla opened her mouth, but John went on. “As soon as we have more information, I'm sending out every jumper to collect your people. We'll keep them safe, Teyla.”

She nodded jerkily, her eyes fixed on the viewscreen.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Alright, people. Listen up. I want everyone with the gene to man a jumper. I don't care if you're an expert pilot or not. Your job is to head to the mainland and help the Athosians with their evacuation. We have four hours to get this done, so let's go!” Evan ordered.

Ioan nodded. Turning to Teyla, he touched her arm. “You can ride with me,” he said softly. Evan would be one of the few gene carriers staying behind on the city, since Sheppard was off-world looking for a place they could bunker down for the duration of this storm, and someone had to organize the evacuation from the city.

Teyla inclined her head and followed him. Taking a seat next to Ioan, she swallowed hard, her face a mask of worry. Going over his pre-flight, Ioan cleared his throat. “They'll be alright, Teyla. We'll have them all out of there before the storm hits.”

She offered him a wan smile. “Thank you, Lieutenant. I'm sure we will. I just...” she trailed off with a shrug.

Flashing a comforting smile, he dipped his head. “I know. I get it, believe me. And please, call me Ioan, okay?”

“Thank you. Ioan.”

“Alright, here we go. It's already pretty windy, so it might get a little bumpy before we get to the mainland,” he cautioned.

It took them almost twenty minutes to have every one of the jumpers flown over and parked at a safe distance. Teyla immediately went to find Halling and Ioan saw them argue briefly before Teyla came rushing back. “We need to do what we can to secure the settlement, and take that which cannot be safely left behind with us. Halling if spreading word of the evacuation, but he says there are several hunting parties out at the moment. He is not sure they all can be reached in time.”

Everyone set to work, though some with less grace than others. Ioan shook his head at Carson's grumbling about not having the right boots for this kind of work. Carson had already been on the mainland in order to inoculate several babies when news of the storm had arrived, and he was not keen to be drawn away from his duties. Ioan really liked the man, but there were those times when he felt the good doctor got a little too one-track minded. Still, a few quick words from Teyla set him to rights.

Ioan was hot and sweaty by the time they had everything as ready as they were going to be, and the wind had picked up considerably. Ioan ordered everyone else to head back to the city. “Carson, I need you to stay here and wait with Teyla for the last stragglers. According to Halling, there are still three people missing.”

“But I should go see to my staff,” he protested.

“Carson, Mac has everything well in hand. Your people are trained well and know what to do. I need you here in case one of the hunters is injured. They should have been back by now.”

Running his fingers through his hair, Carson nodded. “Right. Okay.”

“I'm leaving Lieutenant Ford with you, just in case. Come back as soon as you can and let me know if you run into any trouble.”

“Will do. Good luck, lad.”

“You, too, doc. Teyla.” Ioan hurried off after a quick word with Ford. Ioan had a few months on the guy, but even so, he bristled at the order to stay and babysit the others, though once Ioan repeated the order, a look of determination came over the man. Ioan shook his head as he made his way to the jumper. Ford was overall a likeable guy, but one thing that bugged Ioan was how uppity he got when he thought he was in charge. He almost felt sorry for Carson and Teyla, but they would just have to deal.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Rodney's head was starting to throb. Massaging his temples, he peered at his screen, hoping a solution would come to him. All he had to do was the impossible, as usual, and save the city from this massively huge storm from hell so that the expedition wouldn't be completely stranded and at the mercy of the Manarians. No pressure there. Breathing in deeply through his nose, he murmured to himself, “Come on, McKay. Focus. Like Sheppard said, this city has survived thousands of years. You can _not_ let it be destroyed now, especially not by something as stupid as a bit of wind.” Okay, a _lot_ of very, very powerful wind.

He and his team had been at it for hours already. Well, those of his minions he hadn't set to begin evacuation procedures, at least. Tapping his earpiece, he grumbled, “Simpson, status.”

Simpson promptly relayed where they were at, informing Rodney they were almost done battening down the hatches and had corralled all non-essential personnel toward the gate room. As soon as he signed off, Rodney drained his cold coffee with a grimace. Scrubbing his face with his hands, he sighed.

“You know, in Czech Republic we don't have to deal with hurricanes,” Radek piped up from the other desk.

Rolling his eyes, Rodney huffed as he prodded at his pad. “Yeah well, we don't get that many in Canada, either. Except one called Hazel.”

“Hazel?”

“Hm, yeah, about forty years ago,” Rodney replied distractedly. There just _had_ to be an answer to their problem. There had to be.

“That's interesting.”

“Not really,” Rodney murmured.

Radek paced in front of his desk. “No, not really,” he admitted.

Mind only minimally on the conversation, Rodney added, “I was once almost struck by lightning.”

Radek came to a halt. “Lightning?”

Rodney froze, then jumped to his feet, sharing a look of excited hope with his colleague and friend. “That just might do it.”

They hurried off to talk to Elizabeth to tell her of their tentative plan. If they could get the grounding stations offline, they should be able to reroute the power from any lightning strikes to the shields. There was a slim chance they would be able to pull it off and survive, he was sure. A better chance they would save the city but die in the process, he thought, but he was wise enough to not voice that. He certainly was willing to do what it took, and he was positive that he could improve the odds of their survival with just a little more time. So between them, Radek and Rodney explained what they had just come up with and got the okay.

Snapping his fingers, Rodney said, “Okay, Right. To the grounding stations, then,” he said to Radek, who shook his head.

“No, I think we should do the power distribution station first,” he corrected.

Ah, yes, of course. Rodney should have thought of that himself. “Ah, good point. Good call,” he praised. Not something he got to do very often around his minions. Radek was one of the few people he knew that could keep up with him. Miko and Kimberly coming very close after him. They also happened to be some of the few people who understood how Rodney worked and were able to handle his abrasiveness.

As Radek headed to the stairs, Rodney followed. “I tend to get ahead of myself,” he mused.

Radek chuckled. “Yes, you do. Now we must hurry, or else we run out of time.”

It took them a little longer than Rodney would have preferred to get done, but he insisted they double check everything. They would only get one shot at this, so they couldn't afford to screw up. The only thing left to do was to uncouple the grounding stations, which Rodney figured that he, Elizabeth, and John should be able to handle alone.

Tapping his earpiece, he called John. “We're done, Major.”

“Alright. Head back to the gateroom. I want all non-essential personnel off-world stat. We have one jumper still inbound, but other than that, we're good to go. Let's not push the envelope too much, timewise.”

“Copy that. Meet you there.” Rodney replied, jerking his head to Radek. “C'mon. Time to get you to safety.”

Radek shot him a bemused look. “You sure you wish to stay? I could do this, too, you know. Is not difficult.”

Shaking his head, Rodney led the way to the transporter. “No, I'm staying here. If anything were to go wrong, I want to be here to try to fix it.” And he would never leave John to deal with this himself. He couldn't stand the idea of being safely on Manar, knowing what John was facing here. He knew himself well enough to realize that his own imagination would be his worst enemy. No, best he stay close to his major and do whatever he could to keep both him and the city safe.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Rodney stood next to John on the balcony, overseeing the evacuation. “This feels wrong, somehow,” he said quietly.

Frowning, John turned to him. “Wrong, how?”

“Hm? Oh, not wrong in the sense that the plan isn't going to work. I'm sure it will,” he said, waving off John's concerned look. “No, I meant wrong to have to abandon the city after everything we've been through. Even if it is only for a couple of days.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.”

Once the last person had gone through the gate, it deactivated and Rodney straightened. “Right. Let's head to the labs so we can get started.” He stared into John's eyes for a moment, drawing strength. John nodded, smiling softly.

Time to get to work.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Evan's gut itched, which was never a good sign. John had taken him aside before Evan had stepped through the gate and informed him of the 'agreement' he had come to with Smeadon. Evan hadn't liked the sound of it at all, and he could tell that John, too, felt something was off. They didn't have much choice, however, so they would hold up their end of the bargain.

He glanced around, taking in the Manarian guards around their camp, which they had been allowed to put up a mile west of the gate. Yeah, something was definitely not quite right, he just had no idea what. “Ioan, Bates,” he called out, jerking his head. When the two men were in front of him, he stepped a little closer and lowered his voice so no one could overhear. “Bates, I want you to gather some men and set up a perimeter, work in shifts so that we have it covered at all times until we can go home. Something is up and I do not trust the Manarians. You take first shift, Ioan, you take second, I'll do third.”

Both men nodded, and Bates left to do as ordered. Evan kept a sharp eye out and was pleased to see that Bates took care to have security tight, but not too obvious. It wouldn't do to invite problems by being blatant in their suspicions, after all.

“What brought this on?” Ioan asked quietly.

Shaking his head, Evan sighed. “Something Sheppard said, mostly.” He conveyed Sheppard's thoughts about Smeadon not having been on the up and up, then added, “Coupled with those guards...” He trailed off upon seeing the look of comprehension on his brother's face.

“Alright. I'll make sure everyone knows to be on alert, including the civilians. No wandering to town for any reason. Keep everyone in the camp, just in case,” Ioan murmured, eyes roaming the area. Evan nodded his approval. Ioan looked at his brother, worried. “Do you think they'll manage it?”

Evan cocked an eyebrow. “What? Save the city? Yeah, I think they just might. I hope, anyway. We'll find out in a day or so, I guess. No sense in fretting about it when we can't do anything to help them. Focus on the here and now, and go from there.”

“Right,” Ioan agreed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Rodney bent over his computer, pulling up the schematics on Atlantis and putting it on the large screen. His mind half on double-checking the information on the grounding stations codes, half on trying to explain what they would be doing and how it would work. “There are dozens, possibly hundreds of lightning rods placed strategically around the city.”

“Wait a sec,” John said suddenly, startling Rodney.

“What?” asked Rodney.

“Why?”

Confused, Rodney looked at him. “Why, what?” What was he on about now? Rodney scrambled to refocus completely on his major.

John leaned against the desk. “Why are there hundreds of lightning rods on the city? Wouldn't the shield protect against lightning?”

Rodney stared at John, wondering whether he was being serious, because really? “Yes,” he said, shaking his head in bafflement. “Yes, it would. But running the shield all the time is only good for one thing: draining power.”

John inclined his head. “Right,” he said, though to Rodney it almost sounded more like a question.

He blinked at John, not quite able to comprehend why they were having this conversation. Now, or ever! Surely John should be able to figure this all out for himself, he wasn't that stupid, he was sure. Taking a steadying breath, Rodney had to work hard to keep his tone level and to not scrub his face in frustration. “You are aware that there's a time element to what we're doing here? Right?”

Rolling his eyes, John stepped closer. “Yes, it's been brought to my attention,” he snarked.

Gathering his thoughts, Rodney took a steadying breath and attempted to explain his intentions again. This time, making sure he was using small words, so the major could understand it, even if it made Rodney roll his eyes at him. “Like I was saying, there are lightning rods – a lot of them – placed all over the city. Now, as it stands right now, all the energy they capture is routed into four main grounding stations. In turn, those stations ground all that energy into the ocean below us.”

Rodney watched John's face closely, pleased to see that he was grasping it finally. “So,” said John with a slight frown. “Instead of sending the electricity into the ground-,”

Grinning, Rodney pointed his fingers at John. “We use it to power the shield.”

“How?” asked Elizabeth, who seemed unsure this would work.

Oh, come _on_ , people! This wasn't rocket science, why was it so difficult for them to follow along? Turning to her, Rodney attempted to expand on what he had already said, his hands 'speaking' as much as his mouth, as he tended to do when he was agitated. “By directing it right down the corridors of Atlantis and into the shield generators.” Really, the whole thing was very clever if Rodney said so himself.

Elizabeth looked dubious. “The city can handle this?”

“Yes,” Rodney answered emphatically, then added, “theoretically.” Well, it _should_! Radek and he had been over it several times, and everything indicated their idea should work.

John tilted his head, brow furrowed. “Like 'dinosaurs turned into birds' theoretical, or 'theory of relativity' theoretical?”

Rodney blinked at him. “What?” Where did the man come up with this stuff? And what did it matter? “Err, somewhere between,” he replied absently, his mind already spinning back to the matter at hand. Turning back to his computer, he started typing. “Elizabeth, you take grounding station two, I'll take grounding station one, and Major, you take grounding stations three and four.”

They both nodded, then John shook his head, looking mildly confused. “Whoa whoa whoa, wait a second. Where are grounding stations three and four?”

Rodney pointed out the two furthest away on the map. “Here, and here.”

“And we are..?”

“Here, yes,” Rodney said, pointing to the approximate middle of the city, wondering why it mattered. “I need to get done quickly so I can start working on the subroutines, and Elizabeth was complaining about her knee the other day,” he explained. See, he knew how to be courteous and considerate. He wasn't going to make her walk any more than he had to. Perfect gentleman, here. Besides, John was military for crying out loud, and in great shape. The exercise would be good for him.

Elizabeth didn't quite manage to hide her smile as she shrugged. John, however, balked slightly. “Wait a second. Are these things even close to a transporter?”

“Err, yes? Elizabeth's is.”

John tilted his head. “And mine?”

“It's a... brisk walk away,” Rodney hedged, not quite able to meet John's eyes.

Narrowing his eyes, John asked, “And by brisk you mean far?”

“By walk, I mean 'run',” Rodney admitted. Seriously, he ran all the time. For _fun_! This should be a cakewalk for the man.

John slowly nodded. “Okay,” he said softly, making Rodney wonder what was going through his mind.

“You'll need to radio once you get to your first station.”

John nodded again and sighed, turning to go. “Alright, let's do it.”

Rodney headed toward his grounding station, mentally going over everything they would need to do in order for his plans to succeed. God, but he hoped they would.

  
  
  



	18. Chapter 18

“This plan of yours had better work, Rodney,” John muttered as he ran through the city toward grounding station three. He was beginning to think that maybe they should have had one more person stay behind to help out, but it did him no good to worry about that now. Besides, Ford, Carson, and Teyla were still inbound with the last Athosians, so if push came to shove, he could always get one of them to lend a hand.

Slowing to a walk, he regulated his breathing as he checked his watch. Damn, that had taken longer than he would have liked, but at least he was here. When he opened the door, he paused, momentarily stunned by the sheer power of the storm, and it wasn't even hitting the city yet. “Yeah, Rodney had better be right about this, or we are in deep trouble,” he murmured, stepping to the railing to look out over the ocean. The storm was moving pretty fast.

Tapping his comms, John had to shout to be heard over the roaring wind. “I'm here!”

“I told you to contact me when you got to the first one, Major,” Rodney scolded over the radio.

What the hell? Who did he think he was? Roadrunner? Speedy Gonzalez? “I _am_ at the first one, Rodney!”

“Oh. Sorry. I'm already done.”

Of course he was. He had taken the station closest to the labs. John rolled his eyes. “Oh great, good for you.”

“Me, too,” chimed Elizabeth.

“Good for everyone!” John groused, throwing his hands up. Great. Well, he was here. Now what was he supposed to do?

“Where are you now?” Rodney asked.

“I'm at the damned grounding station!” John said, starting to get irritated. Hadn't they already covered that?

“No no no no, not you, I meant Elizabeth.”

“I'm in the transporter,” she replied.

John closed his eyes briefly to fight the urge to remind the scientist they were on a tight schedule. John listened as Elizabeth bumped into Rodney. He took a deep breath. “Glad everybody's having such a good time, now what do I do?”

“There should be a keypad on the console of the station,” came Rodney's voice.

Keypad on the console of the station. Okay. Should be easy enough to find. Scanning the walls, he saw nothing so he moved toward the pillar in the middle of the space he was in. Keypad. Okay, now what? “Got it.”

“Punch in the Ancient equivalent of oh-three-one-five-four-seven.”

Silently thanking Dr. Jackson for the information packet he had sent along on the Ancients, including everything he had managed to translate, John did as he was told. Well, it seemed to be doing something, at least.

“That do it?” Rodney asked.

John watched closely as he put in the last digit and sighed in relief when the grounding station disconnected. “Yep!”

“Good.” Rodney sounded pleased. “Three down, one to go. They all seem to have the same separation code, so err, get to the next one, repeat the procedure and we'll meet you in the control room.”

“Roger that,” John said, already running again. He had to make it to that fourth station in time. This was going to work, he was sure of it now. It _had_ to. He was over halfway to it when Lieutenant Mills called over the comms, “Dr. Weir, there's been some sort of an attack on Manara. We have an Athosian party incoming with wounded.”

What the hell? That didn't sound right. The hairs on the back of John's neck wanted to stand up. He had had a bad feeling about the deal he had made with Smeadon. Could this be it? Had they attacked his people?

“Apparently there's wounded incoming,” Elizabeth said, sounding worried.

John stopped running, conflicting needs warring in him. “That doesn't make any sense. They said it was Wraith related?” He hadn't heard that, but he had to ask. For all he knew, they had contacted Elizabeth on a different channel and filled her in.

Her, “We'll ask them ourselves in a second, hold on,” had his stomach sink a little, then it dropped to his feet when he overheard a scuffle and the conversation that followed. “What the hell?”

“Dr. Elizabeth Weir, I presume,” said a man. “And you must be Dr. Rodney McKay.”

John’s heart skipped a beat when he recognized the voice that answered tersely, “Yes, that is him.”

That was Sora. The Genii had invaded the city.

The male voice spoke again. “Where is Major Sheppard?”

John wondered why their leader was so interested specifically in him? The voice didn't sound familiar at all, so he was pretty sure he hadn't had dealings with the man before.

Deciding the grounding station would have to wait, John changed course and headed to the jumper bay instead, since it was closer than the armory. He needed weapons and any tactical advantage he could get his hands on. As he ran, he promised himself that after this whole mess was over with, he would create some bolt-holes with arsenal, in case anyone else in Pegasus got it into their heads to invade them. There was no doubt in John's mind that he would have the chance to do that. There was no _way_ the Genii were getting _his_ city. Failure was not an option, John thought. Not today.

He firmly pushed his fears for Rodney and Elizabeth aside. He had to focus or he would be of no use to them. John reminded himself as he stepped into jumper one that Rodney had been in the field with him many times now and had learned to hold his own. He had to trust that. Have faith in Rodney's abilities or he would lose it.

Tapping the comms as he started rummaging through the inventory of the jumper, John called, “Jumper two, this is Sheppard.” Nothing. John frowned and tried again. “Jumper two, do you copy?”

“This is Ford, sir. We decided to wait out the storm in the jumper.”

Ah, hell. “You're still on the mainland?” So much for backup.

“Yes, sir.”

Sighing heavily, John reassessed what he would need as he filled Ford in on the situation. The young lieutenant wanted to come to the city right then and seemed prepared to risk everyone's lives to do it, but thankfully both Carson and Teyla had better sense. John wasn't sure whether to commend the boy on his eagerness, or smack him upside the head for being too gung-ho and risking lives – especially civilians.

“It's okay, Lieutenant. Just get here as soon as you can, I could use a little backup,” John assured him. He sincerely hoped that Ford wouldn't do anything foolish. Grabbing the LSD, John scanned it to see if anyone was nearby. Clear. Good. The Genii had Rodney and Elizabeth, so the most likely place for them to be would be the control tower. He would start there and take out as many people as he could.

“-give him what he needs. He needs the C-4, all the medical supplies, and the Wraith data device. Just give it to him. None of that is worth dying for,” came Rodney's voice over the comms.

“Thank you, Rodney,” John whispered. “Good thinking. Now stay safe and don't do anything stupid until I can get to you.” He hurried off to the armory. He had some C-4 to hide.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Step away from the console!” the leader of the Genii raiding party, Kolya, said, voice soft and hard all at once.

Rodney's stomach twisted. He had a feeling that this man was very, very dangerous. “I was leaning. I was just leaning!” he said hurriedly as he straightened up. Please let John have gotten the message. Please.

He couldn't believe this was happening. Not now, not ever. Atlantis was supposed to be _safe_. They had the IDC's to prevent anyone from coming in. How the hell had the Genii gotten ahold of one, much less gotten the correct code? Was whoever they had taken it from still alive, or had they killed them? Rodney's mind kept spinning on all the possibilities while Elizabeth tried to argue with Kolya. Tried to buy time, but it was of no use. Kolya had the upperhand and he knew it.

Elizabeth was taken away, forced to show them where the Wraith data device was being kept, leaving Rodney with Kolya. His stomach turned to ice at the speculative look in the other man's eyes. Squaring his shoulders, Rodney shored up his nerve as best he could and met the man's gaze.

“Why are you here?” Kolya asked quietly.

“To my understanding, I'm being held hostage,” Rodney replied, heart thudding in his chest.

“No. I mean what are you doing _here._ On Atlantis. Why did some of you stay behind?”

“Oh.” Crap. He sucked at lying, but he knew he had to try. “Err, tie up some loose ends.”

Raising an eyebrow, Kolya wondered, “Oh? Like what?”

“Make sure everyone got out okay,” Rodney bluffed. Oh crap, oh crap, he wasn't buying it. He could see it in his narrowed eyes.

“Isn't that the work of someone less important?” Kolya ventured, his voice growing softer with each question.

Rodney huffed, putting up all the false bravado he could muster. “You'd think so, wouldn't you?” He swallowed hard.

“You have a plan, don't you.” It wasn't a question.

“I got lots of plans about lots of things,” Rodney tried, knowing it was futile. Oh man, what was he going to do? He wasn't brave like John, or as smooth a talker as Elizabeth.

Kolya's stare turned ice cold. “I'm interested in the plan you have to save the city.”

“I never said anything about saving anything.” Rodney's heart raced, his palms were sweaty, and he knew he was in serious trouble. His stomach dropped when Kolya gave a little smile and stepped into his space.

Grasping Rodney’s shoulder, Kolya murmured, “Not yet.”

Rodney's eyes widened when he saw Kolya give a little nod to one of his men. He heard a knife being unsheathed and he began to hyperventilate. Oh crap, he was a dead man, he just knew it. What would John do?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“I will ask you one more time, Dr. McKay. What are your plans to save this city?” Kolya's voice sent shivers through Rodney's spine, and for not-fun reasons. The man was silk-on-steel and Rodney was terrified of him.

The knife against his arm cut a little deeper still. Each time he had been asked, the Genii soldier slid the knife further into his flesh. A small part of Rodney's brain marveled at the amount of skill he had with it. Minimal blood loss and, as far as he could tell, little damage – yet – but Rodney was certain that he would not remain so lucky much longer. He cried out, tears brimming his eyes as he tried to struggle against the hands that held him. He wasn't strong enough for this. Not brave enough. Oh God, but he hurt.

“The plan, Doctor,” Kolya insisted.

Closing his eyes, Rodney silently begged John's forgiveness as he told Kolya everything.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

John's stomach lurched and his heart constricted, though it was more like an echo of something than anything else, causing him to stumble. Steadying himself with a hand against the wall, John frowned, wondering what the hell was going on. Never in his life had he felt anything like this before and he had no words to describe it. It was over almost as soon as it began, and in its wake, John felt dread.

Rodney. Something had happened to Rodney. He was sure of it. Taking a deep breath, he forced the burgeoning panic down and started to run. The C4 was hidden and with a little luck Kolya would contact him soon via the radio he had left behind in the crate the C4 had been in. John had Genii to hunt. He figured the Wraith data device the Genii wanted was the least important to the expedition’s mission. They had taken everything they could from it so it was basically useless to them now. The medicine, however, they _would_ need so he headed toward the infirmary with the intent of preventing them from raiding it all.

He was halfway there when the radio activated. “This is Commander Kolya.”

Nope. Definitely not familiar, John thought. “Kolya, that's a hard name to pronounce. Is that a first name?” John replied glibly. It took some effort, but he couldn't afford to let the man know he was rattled. “My name is Major John Sheppard, and I have hidden the C4 where you will never – I repeat, _never_ – find it. Now, when I get confirmation that the prisoners have been safely released and allowed to gate off Atlantis, _I_ will help you find it.” The C4 would be a small price to pay to guarantee Rodney's safety, and Elizabeth's.

“Your offer is very generous, Major.”

Damn straight it was. He would just as happily kill every single Genii on his city, but he could not risk Rodney and Elizabeth's lives. “Yes, it is.”

“However, Dr. McKay recently shared with me there's a plan in action to save the city.”

John's stomach dropped. “He did?” He couldn't believe Rodney would have just given the information up willingly, which meant that he had been tortured. Questions tried to bubble to the surface but he ruthlessly pushed them down. Focus. He had to focus.

“He did. My understanding is there's one final grounding station that needs to be deactivated. Uncouple the grounding rods at station four, assist with the reactivation of the shield, and you and your friends can leave here, unharmed.”

What? That didn't make any sense! Why would the Genii want to remain on Atlantis? They'd never be able to use it, they didn't have the gene. They had to know that. “Wait a minute, I thought all you wanted was C4 and a jumper?”

Kolya sounded amused. “Why raid a city when you can seize it, Major?” John ground his teeth. “Atlantis will be ours or the ocean's,” Kolya added with conviction. “You choose.”

Great. Just great. John weighed his options for a moment. There really wasn't much choice. _If_ Kolya could be trusted to keep his word, then saving the city was his best shot at getting Rodney and Elizabeth out of here. With the city saved, they would at least stand a chance at getting it back. Something that would be impossible if he allowed the city to weather the storm without the shield. John hoped Rodney was okay. “Hold on, Rodney. I'm coming,” he promised as he altered course and headed to grounding station four.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kolya stalked out of Elizabeth's office with Elizabeth and Sora following close behind. Rodney met Elizabeth's gaze, but she shook her head. Swallowing hard, Rodney nodded. He hadn't believed her appeal would work, but he couldn't help feeling disappointed all the same. Rodney listened closely as the men on the radio reported to Kolya. Elizabeth squeezed his good arm gently but before he could wonder what she was trying to say, he heard Kolya give the order to use lethal force if necessary.

Rodney's eyes widened. No! No, that wasn't right. He had promised he would let them go unharmed, though a not-so tiny voice in the back of his mind reminded him that that had been a lie from the start. After all, _he_ had been harmed already, hadn't he. He clutched his arm a little tighter to his chest reflexively.

Sora seemed just as shocked at the order, and she protested. The cold look Kolya gave her made Rodney's throat tighten. A silent mantra began to play in his head, willing John to be safe. To be careful. God, but he hated the Genii. He really did.

“He's stopped. He's not at the control panel anymore,” came over the radio.

Rodney's breath quickened. Come on, John, he thought. What was he doing? If he wasn't at the panel that had to mean he was aware of the soldiers close by. Right? He shared a panicked look with Elizabeth, who seemed to be holding on to her stoicism by a thread. Mind racing, he tried to think of anything that might stall the Genii. That would keep John safe. Blinking, he stepped forward without meaning to. “Those control panels are pretty fragile,” he said quickly. “You might not want to-,” he cut off when one of the soldiers grabbed his wounded arm, pressing hard. “Ow!”

Breathing hard, he squeezed his eyes shut a moment, jaw clenching as he fought to remain as calm as he could. Not an easy task, since he could feel his distress increasing by the second. Rodney's knees nearly gave out when John's voice sounded over the Genii radio. “Let me tell you what you did wrong here, Kolya!” John! He was okay, right? This had to mean he was okay. He sounded pissed.

“A: you lost two of your men.” Rodney glanced at Kolya who seemed shocked, though that was rapidly disappearing and being replaced by anger as John continued, “B: you damaged the switch before I could separate the grounding rods. Which I'm sure you're gonna get an earful from McKay for!”

Rodney's lips twitched in spite of himself at hearing John's confidence in him. Weird as it was, it helped bolster him. Then the rest of what he had said sunk in and he had to stomp down on the despair that tried to overtake him. Without that grounding station deactivated, the plan was doomed to fail. His mind started to race, automatically trying to come up with a contingency plan.

“And C: you lost all of what little credibility you had with me!” Oh yeah, John was _pissed_. Unfortunately, so was Kolya, and between the two, Rodney was not at all sure what the outcome might be. He shared a worried look with Elizabeth as Kolya stalked around the control room like a predator about to pounce its cornered prey. Rodney definitely didn't care for that feeling – or the comparison and knowledge that he was the prey.

Squaring his shoulders, Rodney attempted to divert Kolya's attention. “Do you have any idea how big of a setback that is? I may not be able to activate the shields, I can't possibly-” he paused when two soldiers grabbed him, trying to yank him back from Kolya. “Get _off_ of me,” Rodney ground out, starting to get mad himself. Elizabeth stood quietly a couple of paces away, not making any move to help. He wasn't sure what to make of that.

Kolya picked up the radio. “You killed two of my men.”

“I guess we're even.”

Kolya's eyes blazed and his voice turned colder than Rodney had heard yet. “I don't _like_ even,” Kolya said as he pulled out his gun and aimed it at Elizabeth. Oh God, no. No, no, no. This couldn't be happening.

“I'm not finished yet!” came John's voice.

“Neither am I,” was Kolya's icy reply. “Say goodbye to Dr. Weir.”

Rodney's breath caught in his throat. What was he supposed to do now?

“The city has a self-destruct button. If you hurt her, I'll activate it! Nobody'll get Atlantis!” John threatened. Rodney watched Kolya's reaction carefully, but the man didn't seem fazed in the slightest.

“Even if it exists, Major, you need at least two senior personnel to activate it, and I'm about to take one of them out of the equation.”

Elizabeth's mouth opened several times, but nothing came out. Rodney's mind worked frantically to think of a way out of this. A way to save her.

“Kolya!” John shouted, but the man ignored him. “Kolya!! I'll give you a ship! I'll fly you out of here myself!” No, John couldn't. Kolya would kill him, Rodney was certain. The thought of that made Rodney's stomach turn worse than it already was at the thought of having to watch Elizabeth get killed in front of him. “Kolyaaaaa!!! Kolya, don't do this!”

“How is this going to help you get what you want?” Elizabeth asked.

“Sheppard put you in this position, not me,” Kolya ground out.

Shaking, Rodney stepped in front of Elizabeth. Heart hammering in his throat, he tried to stare the other man down. “You can't do this. This is crazy. You need her.” Yeah, but what he was doing was crazier. Was he _insane_ to step into the line of fire?

Sora piped up. “She's right, Commander.”

Okay, good. Maybe he'd listen to her, because Rodney wasn't sure the man would listen to him. Thinking quickly, he gave one last ditch effort, putting as much bluster as he could manage into his voice. “I'm not kidding. There are codes required to activate the shield. Codes that only she knows. You can't do this without her!” Kolya's gaze turned to flint and his gun hand twitched. Gulping, Rodney held up his hands and added, “You can't do this without me, either. I mean... we're a package deal.” Oh, he was going to die. He was going to die and it would be his own damn fault.

He started to babble. “You take us out of the equation andandand you don't have an endgame!” The silence in the room grew unbearable and Rodney realized the term wouldn't mean anything to the Genii. Scrambling, he tried again. “Granted, that's a chess term. I'm... I'm...” Taking a deep breath, he tried again, talking faster as he went. “My point is, we're the only ones that can fix the grounding stations. We're the only ones that can activate the shield. We're the only ones that can solve problems I can't even think of yet! You kill either one of us, and you don't get what you want! That's how important we are.” Rodney hated hearing the fear in his voice. The tears that were threatening to to spill at the thought of leaving John behind.

“Rodney,” Elizabeth said quietly from behind him. “Rodney, he gets it.”

It took Rodney a moment to realize that while he had been rambling, Kolya had lowered his gun. The stark relief he felt at the threat of death being lifted – temporary though that might be – had Rodney nearly collapsing in on himself. He'd done it. He had saved Elizabeth and himself, and John was still out there.

“I appreciate y-” Elizabeth started, but Sora cut across her harshly. “You're an asset we need to complete this mission.”

As she stormed out of the room, Rodney turned toward Elizabeth to make sure she was alright. “You stood in front of a gun for me,” she said quietly.

Turning his head slightly, he muttered, “Don't thank me just yet. We have two and a half hours until the storm hits and unless our luck changes drastically the city is going to be obliterated.” He was going to be sick, he just knew it.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Report, Sergeant,” Ioan ordered when he went to relieve Bates of duty.

Bates shook his head, eyes darting to the Manarians several feet away. “No activity, sir. They seem to be content to just stand there and watch us. A few of the Athosians wanted to go hunting, but Halling convinced them otherwise.”

Ioan nodded. “When I explained to him why we were concerned, he didn't seem particularly surprised. I think there's some history there, but he wasn't very forthcoming.”

Bates frowned. “History? Then why did they suggest trade with the Manarians?”

Ioan shrugged. “Better the devil you know, maybe? I don't know. Could just be it's a personal matter for Halling, not an Athosian one. Like I said, he wasn't very forthcoming.”

Bates nodded, casting a suspicious look at the guard. “Still don't like it, sir.”

Ioan huffed. “None of us do, Sarge. Go get some rest.”

“Yes, sir,” Bates said, saluting smartly before heading toward his tent.

Sighing, Ioan took up position and focused on the task at hand, pushing his worries about Atlantis aside. He knew the storm was due to hit in a couple of hours and they had no hope of news before at least another hour after that, and that was being overly optimistic, Kimberly had told him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Major Sheppard. How is this for credibility? Weir is dead.”

Anger roiled in John's gut. He'd failed Elizabeth, and now she was gone and it was his fault. Pressing the Genii comm to his mouth, he ground out, “I. Will. _Kill_. You.”

“Maybe. Stay out of my way or McKay will join her.”

Rodney! John's stomach threatened to revolt at the thought of Kolya laying a hand on him. Closing his eyes, he took several deep breaths in an attempt to squash the sudden helplessness that washed over him. If Rodney died... No. He couldn't think on that. The only way to save Rodney was to take the Genii out. Nodding to himself, he set off running with grim determination.

He made his way carefully through the city, keeping a sharp eye on the LSD. He had to be smart about this. Going in guns blazing, however appealing that sounded just then, would only get Rodney killed, and losing him was not an option. A few corridors down, John noticed a small cluster of blips on the screen moving toward him from a level below. Slowing his pace, he approached them soundlessly until he was right above them. Dropping a couple of smoke bombs, he silently set about creating an ambush.

He could hear one of the Genii giving them directions to his location. Damn, that meant they had figured out how to use the city's scanners. Well, maybe he could use that against them. For now, he needed to take out this group and they were headed his way fast. Scrambling up the rafters, John got into position and waited. It didn't take very long at all before a group of four Genii stood under him. He grinned darkly as he listened to their confusion, knowing the scanners would show him in the same room.

Very carefully, he set his sights on the first one and, after taking a slow breath, opened fire. The room filled with the sound of gunfire and their shouts, which were abruptly ended in short order. Four down, however many left to go, John thought as he climbed down. Checking the LSD again, he allowed himself a brief respite. “What would McKay do?” he muttered to himself. When it hit him, he almost wanted to laugh it was so simple. With renewed vigor, John made his way to the naquedah generator that powered the control room.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Teyla, I'm scared.”

Kneeling down beside the young boy who had been on his first hunting party when the storm hit, she took his hands in hers and smiled reassuringly up at him. “We are safe here, Degan. The storm will pass and we will see our people again,” she promised gently.

He shook his head, his eyes wide with fear. “We'll get blown away!”

“We will not. Dr. Beckett has made the jumper heavier. No wind can lift us if we do not wish it to.”

“But-” Degan started, only to stare open-mouthed out of the window. Teyla turned her head to look and got to her feet instantly. The sky had cleared, the sun was shining, and the wind had stopped almost completely. Was it over?

Aiden and Carson both moved to the back where Aiden slapped the button to lower the ramp. They all three stepped outside in disbelief. Never had she experienced a storm so fierce, only to have it die down so abruptly.

Aiden exhaled sharply. “We're in the eye.”

Teyla looked at him in confusion, then at Carson as he agreed with him. “The eye?” she asked.

“Dead center of the storm,” Carson explained, his eyes scanning the sky above. “The storm swirls around it, twenty to forty kilometer-wide area.”

She nodded. “Then this calm will not last.”

Turning to her, Carson inclined his head. “No, it won't. In fact, in about ten minutes it's going to get very ugly again.”

Aiden spun on his heel and began to push Carson back into the jumper. Teyla watched in astonishment as he said, “Come on, we have to help the major.”

Carson put a restraining hand on Aiden's shoulder. “Aye. We can take off, but landing's going to be twice as hard, believe me. What if the storm's reached Atlantis?”

She watched to two face off, unsure which – if any – side she should take. She knew nothing of weather like this and these men seemed to have more experience with it. To her, they both had valid points, yet she could not deny wanting to assist the major. Aiden forced Carson inside and into his seat even as the man protested vehemently that attempting to fly was insane.

“This is a _spaceship_ ,” Aiden reminded him. “We can fly up and over.”

“Oh, straight up and down,” Carson said incredulously.

“Yes, straight up and down,” Aiden said firmly. “We _have_ to help the major, doc.”

“I'm a bloody medical doctor,” Carson argued. “Not a bloody magician!”

“You can do it,” Aiden assured, though Teyla sensed he was not as confident as he wanted to appear.

Carson turned helplessly to her. “Teyla?” he pleaded.

“If we can help, then we must.” If Aiden said they could avoid the storm entirely during the eye, then she had to believe him. She had to have faith that Carson could fly them to Atlantis in one piece. She chanced a quick glance over her shoulders to the three young Athosians and flashed them a smile. They were staring at them with wide eyes. She hoped she would be able to keep them safe.

Carson flung his seat around and began his pre-flight, anxiety pouring off the man in waves. “Oh crap,” he mumbled as they took off. Placing a steadying hand on his shoulder, she offered what support she could to her friend. She hoped the major, Rodney, and Elizabeth were alright. At least now they were on their way to lend assistance.

The flight to the city was shorter than she had ever known before. Carson had managed to land them safely in the city, if barely. The winds had barreled at them and Carson's own fears did not help their approach. However, they were in the jumper bay, all in one piece. She and Aiden scouted the immediate vicinity and once it was cleared, went back to the jumper where Carson was waiting with the young ones. As Aiden offered Carson a gun, she warned the others to stay inside the jumper and to be still. It was the only thing she could think of to keep them out of harm's way.

“Remember how you're always saying you're not military and you don't have to take orders?” Aiden groused.

Carson nodded. “Aye.”

“Well, now you do. Follow me.” Aiden ordered gruffly, an air of pomposity practically shimmering around him.

Teyla frowned at the lieutenant. She and Aiden had been on the same team for months now. She liked him. He appeared to have a ready smile, and he had not yet been jaded by the Pegasus galaxy as so many of its inhabitants had. She had found him to be easy-going while on missions, quick to obey orders, as well as to take suggestions from her when it came to dealing with the people of this galaxy. Yet now, she saw an entirely different side to him and it was one she could not reconcile with the boy she had come to know. When this was all over, she intended to have a word with Major Sheppard about their youngest teammate, because his current attitude would not do.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

_Really, really dangerous!_

_Don't touch!_

_Mckay._

John eyed the sign Rodney had left on top of the generator with trepidation, weighing the pros and cons of going through with his plan. _If_ this worked the way he hoped, then the most he would get from the scientist was a lecture. If something went wrong though, then this could end up being his worst decision yet. Swallowing hard, he stared the generator down as if it held the answers. “Okay, Sheppard. Quit it. This _will_ work, and when it does, you have to haul ass to the control room before the Genii reinforcements gate in.”

He mentally went over everything he had read about the naquadah generators, but he had to admit he hadn't paid as much attention as he probably should have. Still he hoped he was remembering correctly as he gripped the top and twisted, lifting the cap off. The generator died instantly and John sighed in relief. Okay, next step, he thought as he double-timed it to the control room.

It filled John with satisfaction to hear the communications between the Genii as they tried to figure out what he had done. The scanners were down, so he was free to move about the city without risk of discovery, which was a very good thing considering what he was about to do. Stepping into the transporter he took a deep breath. John hit the pad just off from the control room, very glad that the process was virtually soundless.

John crept closer, keeping his eyes and ears peeled as he went. He didn't need their radios now to hear their conversation. He just had to stay out of sight until just the right moment.

“How many can we expect?” Sora asked.

John ducked a little further behind the console as she walked by it. “A full complement. Sixty, or more,” came the answer from a Genii John didn't recognize. “I don't know how we were expected to take a facility this size with any less,” the man said as the gate activated. He got up and walked to the balcony.

“We're supposed to be a raid. The retrieval was rightfully ours,” Sora offered curtly. John thought she sounded disapproving. Interesting. “With me,” she said as she headed down the stairs to meet the reinforcements. Two Genii followed her, leaving the guy on the balcony alone.

Good. This was his chance, then. “Reinforcements are arriving now, Commander,” the man relayed.

“Have them secure Stargate operations and report back to me.” Sorry to disappoint, Kolya, John thought as he noiselessly made his way toward the soldier.

“Yes Commander,” the man said and turned around. Right into John's right hook. He went down instantly and John had to move quickly to catch him in order to avoid anyone hearing the racket.

Once the man was on the floor, John slipped over to the dialing device and activated the shield, inputting a personal code to prevent it being lifted without his explicit permission. There would be no more Genii coming onto his city. Before he could escape unseen, Sora spun to yell at her accomplice and spotted him. “Get him!”

Crap. Jumping to his feet, John ran across to the other side of the control room, firing as he went. He thought he killed at least one more, and wounded a few others, but he was too busy evading bullets himself to pay too close attention to his marks. He all but dove into the transporter, randomly hitting a spot on the map in order to get away. John listened to Sora update Kolya on the situation. The thrill of knowing the blow he had dealt them shot through John, but he pushed it down. Yes, he had won a battle, but the war was still going and it was one he had to win.

Taking care to avoid running into more Genii, John decided to take out more generators, figuring the less power the Genii had to work with, the better for him. If nothing else, it would keep them busy, and if they did as he hoped and sent guards, they would be easy pickings. John was evading a couple of Genii when Kolya's icy rage piped into his ear. “Major Sheppard, I have a proposition for you.”

Crap! If that patrol overheard him, he would be in trouble. The LSD showed him he was way too close to another group of Genii to risk a firefight. Doubling back, John decided to go down a few levels. “Kolya. I'm having a hard time keeping up. What's the score again?” He had to keep the man on edge. If Kolya was unbalanced enough, he might be able to surprise him.

“My men have informed me that not only have you disabled some crucial generators, but you have stolen key components which make it impossible for them to be restored.”

“Yeah, I did that.” Keep talking, Kolya, John thought. The man had to slip up sometime, and John was determined to catch him at it.

“There are two flaws in your plan.”

John snorted. Probably more than two if he were honest, but he was working with what he had, which wasn't much. “Always open to constructive criticism,” John quipped.

“One: the assumption that I would believe you would rather destroy the city than have it fall to us, is childish.”

“That doesn't sound like me,” John retorted as he continued down several flights of stairs.

“Second: if and when I determine Atlantis unsalvageable, Drs. Weir and McKay become obsolete.”

John stopped so suddenly he nearly tripped down the last step. “Weir's alive?” His heart pounded in his chest.

“Dr. McKay was able to make a strong case for keeping her alive.”

John smiled in spite of himself. Way to go, Rodney. “Let me talk to her,” he demanded, needing to be absolutely sure Kolya was speaking the truth this time.

“Sheppard, we're both here,” came Elizabeth's voice, and John breathed a sigh of relief.

“It's good to hear your voice.” He closed his eyes briefly, mentally reordering what he knew now that Elizabeth was alive.

“Yeah, it's good to hear you, too,” she replied before Kolya came back on the line.

“We have less than one hour before the storm hits full force. If the power is not returned to grounding station four within the next ten minutes, Dr. Weir dies.”

John blinked. How could he be sure Kolya's threat was real this time. He had bluffed before, could he be doing so now, John wondered? “Again, you mean?”

“Her death will buy you another ten minutes, after which, should the power still be out, Dr. McKay dies.”

John's gut clenched with fear as he checked his watch, tallying how long it would take him to get back to the generator. He could not risk Rodney. He couldn't. The very thought of being the cause of Rodney's death... it was worse than when he had been unable to rescue Holland and forced to watch his friend die. That incident had nearly unglued John. Losing Rodney would be the end of him, he was certain.

Kolya continued, “We will then leave with what we can and the city will be destroyed.”

John shook his head. “But that's not enough time!” He had to try, but there was no way he would make it from where he was at without cutting it _real_ close.

“If you don't mind destroying Atlantis, stay where you are for the next twenty minutes. Starting now,” Kolya challenged.

Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap! John raced down the stairs, putting everything he had in getting to his destination on time, praying he wouldn't run into any patrols. He made it to the generator with less than a minute to spare. Dropping to his knees, he grabbed the cable and reattached it to the machine before fumbling in his bag for the missing piece. He was about to put it in the generator when a voice behind him ordered him to stop.

“You have _got_ to be kidding me,” John muttered under his breath. He didn't have time for this shit. Raising his hands in the air, he took slow, steadying breaths to keep his temper in check. If he didn't get the power back on, like _now_ , Elizabeth would die. “Look. Your boss wanted me to turn this thing back on, so I think we should do as he says,” he tried, knowing it was probably a wasted effort.

Sure enough... “Be quiet.”

Great. Now what was he going to do? Hanging his head, he listened with fading hope as the man reported to Sora and was told to keep him there until she got there. At least they were under orders to keep him alive, which was something.

“I don't mean to be a bad prisoner or anything, but Kolya's going to kill one of my people if I don't get this thing turned back on in time, so...” John gritted his teeth. If it came down to it, he would take the chance and try to activate it anyway, even if it meant getting shot.

“Turn. Around.”

Taking a steadying breath, John weighed his options. On his knees as he was, he was vulnerable. On his feet, he could try to overpower them or at the very least get out of their line of fire. He stood up slowly and did as ordered. It took him a second to register what he was seeing. A grin spread on his lips. Things had just taken a turn for the better. “You turn around,” he said casually.

The two Genii shared a confused look. “What?”

John half-shrugged, hands still in the air. “Well, if I have to turn around, you should turn around.”

They stared stupidly at him for all of three seconds before Ford stunned them and they dropped to the ground. About time they got here, John thought. “What the hell took you so long?” he asked no one in particular even as he turned his attention back to the generator.

“Well there's the storm, you know, and-” Ford began, but John cut him off.

“Just... hold that thought,” he muttered as he checked he had the top aligned correctly and pushed down. His knees shook with relief when the generator lit up. Checking his watch, he ran a hand over his face. He had made it, just in the nick of time.

Right. They had to move fast now. Rodney would no doubt have the grounding station working again soon, which meant that the corridors would not be a good place to be. John filled Ford, Teyla, and Carson in on what had been going on, all the way from Rodney's plan to save the city, to what had happened with the Genii up until they had found him. Well, he gave them the CliffsNotes version as they headed to the control tower. There was no time for details.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

John was alive. Elizabeth was still here, and for the moment, they were both safe. Rodney had to keep reminding himself of that as he sat hunched over the console. He had tried as hard as he could to stall, but they were running out of time. The storm was going to hit any moment, but if he could just give John a little more time... Just one more chance to come and save the day. Rodney was absolutely terrified of Kolya. Back at the grounding station when Kolya had gotten word of what John had done with the gate shield, Rodney had been certain that that would be it for him. The man had been deranged and Rodney believed the only reason he hadn't killed Rodney that instant was because it took him too long to decide whether to strangle him or throw him into the ocean.

Rodney's heart was alternately in his throat or somewhere around his toes, depending on where Kolya was in relation to him. Elizabeth hovered over his shoulder, whispering in his ear. “We have to keep stalling. Sheppard is still out there.”

Yes, thank you, he was aware of that. All too aware. Still, she hissed, “If you activate it now, he'll-”

Kolya called from the window. “Now, McKay.”

“It's done,” Rodney said, ignoring Elizabeth, as well as the sickening feeling in his gut. Squaring his shoulders, he shot her a meaningful look. “Dr. Weir, I need to enter codes now.”

She blinked in confusion, so he willed her to understand. Straightening, she gave the tiniest of head bobs. “Yes, of course.” She rattled off a set of numbers which Rodney typed in as judiciously as possible before prompting her for more. They were all nonsense, anyway, but the Genii didn't know that. It was the only thing he could think of to do, and it would hopefully work toward convincing Kolya when the shield failed. Which it would, only by virtue of Rodney having set it up to do so. There was a slim chance his desperate plan would work, but he had to take it.

One of the Genii shouted, “A massive wave is approaching. Without the shield...”

Kolya roared, “McKay!”

Okay, Rodney. Breathe. He just had to stay calm. Had to play his part. He could do this. Eyes roving the readouts the console was spitting out, Rodney reported, “We're starting to get hits to the northern pier. Reverting power to the corridor... _now_.” He punched the button which made a sorrowful noise, but nothing happened. Okay, so far, so good, Rodney thought. He took a steadying breath and hit it again. “Now!” Again the noise and again nothing. A third time. And a fourth. “Okay, this is a problem,” he said, turning to Kolya who stalked over to his console.

Kolya growled, “What?”

Steeling himself, Rodney pushed through. He was in no doubt that he would pay for his little charade even if Kolya believed him. All the more if he did not. “I told you this was a longshot from the beginning.”

“We already have serious flooding on the north and west piers,” came the Genii who had warned of the approaching wave.

Rodney felt as if his heart was about to race out of his chest and his palms were starting to sweat. “Look, it's no use. The corridors just can't handle this kind of raw power.” Please, oh please, let them buy it. Let them cut their losses and just leave while there's still time, Rodney thought.

Elizabeth sounded genuinely concerned, which was good. “Is there any power getting to the shield generator?”

Rodney shook his head. “Not enough. Minimal amounts, nowhere near enough.” He avoided Kolya's eyes, focusing on his screen as he pretended to attempt to find a way around it.

Kolya loomed over the console, cold fury in his voice. “You said this would work!”

Gathering every bit of the arrogance and anger he was most known for, Rodney faced the man. “I don't know if you noticed or not, but I'm an extremely arrogant man who tends to think _all_ his plans will work.” Kolya didn't disappoint in his reaction as he backhanded Rodney, nearly knocking him out of his chair. Yeah, he had known something like that was coming. Didn't make it hurt any less, though, he thought.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Open the stargate,” Kolya ordered. “Start evacuating the remaining men.”

“You're making the right decision,” Elizabeth said.

John's relief was short lived as Kolya’s next words filtered down to them. “You're coming with us.”

Oh, hell no. He glanced around the pillar he was hiding behind and tried to decide the best course of action. Carson and Teyla should have been there already, which meant something had happened to them and it would be up to him and Ford to stage a rescue on their own. Genii were leaving the city with their loot in tow. John took small pleasure in knowing that they were not taking any C4, but he was certain Carson would be less than happy knowing his already limited medical supplies were now severely diminished.

He only half paid attention to what was happening above them, only dimly aware of Kolya and Rodney arguing. He wished he could tell Rodney to shut up and not make the man any madder than he already was. John was still reeling slightly from when Kolya had hurt Rodney. He had no idea what had actually happened up there, but he had heard the impact and he had... _felt_ that same feeling from before again. That weird echo-y twisting of his stomach and tightening of his heart. Not nearly as bad as it had been then, but enough to take him by surprise. He had to figure out what that was about, but it would have to be later.

Turning to Ford, he indicated where he wanted the man to go as he told him to protect Elizabeth. Rodney was his. John would trust no other to save the man at this point. Stepping out from behind the pillar, John shot at the men trying to get through the gate. The one holding Elizabeth let her go in an attempt to flee, but Ford took care of him. Kolya had Rodney in his grip, using him as a shield as he backed them slowly toward the gate. Forcing his breath to remain steady, John took careful aim. “You're not going anywhere.”

Kolya grinned, certain of his victory as he took another step backward, forcing Rodney to arch slightly as Kolya tightened the pressure on his wounded arm.

“I will shoot you if you don't let him go,” John said, only somewhat surprised at how calm he sounded.

“And risk hurting Dr. McKay?” Kolya challenged.

John briefly met Rodney's eyes who seemed to be silently begging him to get it over with. To save him. It tore at John to see the fear in his lover's eyes. John stepped forward, securing his sight. “I'm not aiming at him,” he assured, his attention once more laser focused on Kolya. When the man took another step back, John pulled the trigger and Kolya released Rodney even as he fell through the event horizon.

Rodney was on all fours, shaking and panting as John rushed over to him. He dropped to his knees, letting the gun slip from his hands as he reached to cradle Rodney's face in them instead. He stared intently into Rodney's eyes for a moment, whispering, “You're okay. I'm here, Rodney. You're okay, you're okay,” before crashing his lips to Rodney's. Rodney wrapped his arms around him and John did the same, holding onto him for dear life. Nothing mattered except Rodney.

That was, until Elizabeth placed her hand on his shoulder and shook him. “John,” she urged. “John!”

Reluctantly, they separated and he glanced up at Elizabeth who watched them with an unreadable expression. John's stomach dropped when he realized what he had just done, certain they were in even more trouble, but Elizabeth shook her head. “We can discuss this later. For now, let's try to save the city first.”

“Right. Yes. Of course,” Rodney rambled as he got to his feet and ran up the stairs, John following close behind.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Carson, come on. Faster, we have to make it to the control room in time,” Teyla urged as she and Sora carried him between them. He and Teyla had gone to the jumper bay to retrieve the three Athosian stragglers they had left there, and they were supposed to have gone to help the major rescue Elizabeth and Rodney. Instead, Sora had knocked Carson out briefly and he had woken to see Teyla and the Genii girl fighting.

When Kolya’s order to evacuate came over the radio, Teyla had used the distraction and pinned Sora to the wall, telling her plainly that she was going to get those hunters to safety. Sora could either help or die in the corridors of Atlantis. Sora had opted for helping, which is how they found their way stumbling to the control room.

“Aye, lass, I'm trying,” he assured. He frowned slightly when he realized he was slurring his words.

Together, they hobbled into the room and Elizabeth yelled, “Rodney, go!”

Carson limped over to the console, needing to hold onto it to stay upright. Oh, but his head hurt. Carson wasn't entirely sure what was going on, vaguely remembering the plan Major Sheppard had laid out, but he wasn't sure it was working. He did notice Major Sheppard hovering at Rodney's side with a look of concern.

Rodney glanced up and nodded to him. “Carson.”

“Rodney,” Carson replied, wondering what that was about.

“Just in time to see how this ends, huh?”

Aye, he supposed he was, at that. Carson sent up a quiet prayer to whoever was listening that Rodney's crazy plan would work. “Now!” exclaimed Rodney, punching a button. Carson turned to look out the window and joined the collective sigh of relief when he saw the shield go up just in time to block the massive wave that surely would have swallowed the city whole.

“Nice work, Rodney,” Elizabeth said with a smile.

Rodney leaned heavily on the console, head drooping, but he glanced up at her. “Did you ever doubt me?”

Her lips twisted briefly. “Yes. Several times,” she admitted.

“Oh...” Rodney nodded, but before he could do or say anything else, Major Sheppard enveloped him in a hug.

Carson's eyes widened at the unexpected, not to mention unusual, display. His gaze met Elizabeth's and she nodded. Yeah, they would definitely need to have a talk about the regulations, and soon. Life on Atlantis was about to change.

 


	19. Chapter 19

John tried to focus on debriefing Evan, but his head wasn't really in it. Too much had happened over the last twenty-four hours for him to really process and there was the whole 'discussion' with Elizabeth still looming over his head. He knew he had screwed up big time when he inadvertently outed his and Rodney's relationship, and he dreaded the fallout. He knew her options for punishments were limited, after all. He couldn't be court marshalled, couldn't be reassigned or fired, and neither could Rodney. But there were still plenty of other ways to reprimand them and none of them were good.

“They had guards on us at all times but no overtures were made, sir. I have to think that, considering what you've just told me about the Genii, they were there to make sure we didn't try to go back to Atlantis too early,” Evan said with a speculative look.

Leaning back in his chair, John swiveled back and forth as he considered that. He nodded. “Seems plausible. Either way, I think we are done with the Manarians. Their hand in this whole fiasco means I feel absolutely no qualms about reneging on our deal.”

“Yes, sir,” Evan agreed. Clearing his throat, Evan tilted his head. “Permission to speak freely?”

John nodded, eyebrow raised in question.

“With all due respect, John, you look like hell. Why don't you go get some rest. Ioan and I will get everyone settled back in.”

He smiled softly. “Thank you, Evan. I think I will do just that. It's been a long, _long_ day.” Getting to his feet, he stretched his arms over his head and groaned at the satisfying pop it produced. “I'll see you in the morning.”

Evan grinned. “Yes, sir.” He followed John out of his office.

“John? My office,” Elizabeth called as he headed toward the stairs.

He winced but did as ordered. His heart sank when he saw Rodney and Carson already there. He wondered why the doctor was present and, for a moment, concern for Rodney spiked in him. Had he been hurt worse than he had thought?

“Have a seat, Major,” Elizabeth said, pointing to the empty chair next to Rodney.

Fighting the urge to grab Rodney's hand, John sat down and tried to mask his expression. A sidelong glance at Rodney nearly undid him, though. The poor guy looked wretched and nervous. Clearing his throat, he frowned. “Look, Elizabeth, I get that we need to talk, but maybe this could wait until after we've had some rest?”

She held up a hand to stop him. John's eyes flickered to Carson as he stood behind her. What the hell was going on here? “John,” Elizabeth murmured, catching his attention again. She folded her hands on the table and leaned forward slightly, her gaze intent on his for a moment. “This can't wait. I promise, you and Rodney can have some time soon to think over things, but this is too important to put on hold. I'm sure you'll understand why when you hear what we have to say.”

What _we_ have to say? What did that mean? John shared a confused look with Rodney before focusing back on her. Shifting in his seat, he attempted to appear casual, but he was feeling anything but. “Okay.”

Elizabeth nodded. Seeming to steel herself, she looked at both of them. “During his attempts to perfect the ATA gene therapy, Carson ran across some... information in the Ancient database that will have an impact on you. On all gene carriers, actually.”

“What are you talking about?” Rodney asked then looked sharply at Carson. “What is she talking about?”

“Rodney,” Elizabeth intoned patiently. John just caught the twitch of Rodney's jaw out of the corner of his eye, but he kept his focus on Elizabeth and Carson. There was something going on here, and he wasn't sure he liked the sound of it. With a sigh, Elizabeth glanced at her hands briefly before meeting their gaze again. “According to the data Carson found, the Ancients had... They had soulmates.”

“They had what?” Rodney cried out, incredulous. “That is the biggest load of crock I've ever heard. Soulmates are a fantasy. It's something that the entertainment industry uses to sell books and movies. Soulmates aren't _real_.”

“Rodney,” Carson said quietly, eyes fixed on Rodney. “She's telling the truth, lad.”

Rodney shook his head. John wasn't sure what to believe just then. He was inclined to agree with Rodney. Soulmates were the stuff of romance novels, not real life. Elizabeth shifted her laptop so the screen faced them. “See for yourself. Carson discovered strange markers in your genome. At first, he simply wrote it off as a quirk of Ancient genes. But as he checked the other ATA carriers, he noticed the markers came in pairs, and no pairs were alike from one to the next. According to the information he found, those markers indicate a soul bond.”

Rodney leaned forward, peering intently at the screen with his mouth agape. John shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He rubbed the back of his neck. “Okay, so... what does that mean?”

“Whose results are these?” Rodney cut in before anyone could answer.

Carson coughed nervously. “Yours.” At Rodney's narrowed eyes, he added, “Yours and Major Sheppard's.”

Rodney turned to face him and they stared at each other wide-eyed. They were soulmates? Taking a steadying breath, John shifted his gaze to Carson. “What does that mean, exactly?” he asked quietly.

“We're not entirely sure, to be honest. I wasn't able to find much more on the markers than the fact that they indicate a soul bond,” Carson admitted. “There's got to be more information on the database, but it'll take time to sift through it all.”

Rodney settled back in his seat, and John couldn't help but think he seemed... small. Like he had shrunk in on himself somehow. “Okay, but what does this mean for us?” Rodney asked, staring intently at Elizabeth.

She cleared her throat and cast her eyes down at her hands again briefly before meeting his gaze again. “I don't know what it means for you as far as your... relationship goes, Rodney. That is between the two of you. As for what it means for your relative positions on the expedition... I think it's safe to say that we will have to make some changes.”

John's stomach turned to ice. What kinds of changes did she mean? Clenching his jaw, he squared his shoulders, but before he could argue with her one way or the other, she held up her hand and continued, “You two are far from the only soul bonded on the city. Most of the ATA carriers that came with us, whether they got the gene naturally or through the therapy, have a mate on Atlantis. If we are to function at all as a society, that means we will need to adjust.”

He nodded, relaxing slightly as he let out a long, slow breath. “Okay, yeah... So..?”

She offered him a small smile. “I'm calling a meeting tomorrow morning at nine so we can discuss the finer details. I need you both here, as well as Major Lorne, and Dr. MacTavish.”

John frowned at the wince Carson failed to hide at the mention of his colleague. He wondered what that was about. Elizabeth sighed. “Gentlemen, I suggest you get some rest. I have a feeling we will be in for some strenuous times starting tomorrow.”

Rodney scoffed and John just caught his muttered, “As if everything has been sunshine and daisies so far.”

John nodded, getting to his feet. Helping Rodney to his, he glanced at Carson and jerked his head to Rodney. “He gonna be okay or does he need to stop by the infirmary first?”

Carson shook his head. “I've looked at his arm already. No showers or manual labor for a while until his stitches are out, but aside from that, he's fine,” Carson promised.

John nodded and guided Rodney to the door. The man looked dead on his feet and John wasn't doing much better himself. “We'll see you at nine, then.” He didn't wait for their reply as he and Rodney made their way to the transporter in silence. Without discussion, they headed to John's quarters, and as soon as they were behind the locked door, they wrapped their arms around each other. Holding Rodney grounded John, allowed him to think about what they had just been told.

“Do you believe them?” Rodney whispered into his neck, sending shivers down his spine.

John allowed himself a moment to let his mind wrap itself around the information before nodding. “Yeah, I think I do. Rodney...” He pulled away just far enough to be able to look the other man in the eye. “Have you _ever_ felt anything like this?”

Searching John's eyes, Rodney shook his head. “No, but you know my history,” he said quietly.

John smiled ruefully. “Yeah, I know. Thing is, Rodney... I've never felt for anyone like I do for you. How I feel... it came on so quickly, so strongly... I didn't understand it. Hell, I still don't, but if what Carson and Elizabeth said is true, it would explain so much.”

He frowned as he touched Rodney's bandaged arm lightly. John sighed, remembering. “I think... I think I felt it – sort of – when he did this.” Caressing the bruise on Rodney's jaw from Kolya's backhand, he added, “And this. How could I have, Rodney? How is that even possible?”

“I don't know,” Rodney murmured, eyes glistening. Blinking, he shook his head. “I'm so tired, John.”

“Stay?”

Rodney nodded. “Please. I really don't want to be alone right now. Not after-” He gulped, unable to finish his sentence, but John understood. Rodney had seriously feared for his life, and that of Elizabeth and John. The adrenaline surge he had experienced was making him crash now, and on top of everything else, they had just had a new reality dumped on them. Yeah, John didn't want to be alone, either. Not now.

Not ever again if he had his way.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Mac watched from across the infirmary as Carson rested his head in his hands and closed his eyes. He was still pissed at the man for keeping his secrets, but he was also concerned for his friend. He had had quite a blow to the head and as a result was suffering from a mild concussion. Why was he here when he should be in his quarters resting? Walking over to stand in front of Carson's desk, he crossed his arms over his chest. “You shouldn't be here, Carson.”

“I know.” Carson's voice was muffled. He sounded exhausted.

Quirking a brow, Mac sighed. “Then why are you here instead of your bed?”

Lifting his head, Carson looked up at him with a drawn expression. “Because I have too much to do. Speaking of which, we have a nine o'clock meeting with Elizabeth in the morning.”

Mac blinked in surprise. “Why?”

Carson's gaze shied away from him and his cheeks flushed, raising Mac's suspicion. “It's regarding the DNA markers we discovered, among other things.”

Temper flaring, Mac took a deep breath. For days, he had been keeping himself in check, processing what he had learned and trying to decide how to approach Carson. And when he had finally decided to broach the subject with him, the storm had put a halt to it. There had been no time, and when he had returned to Atlantis it was to find Carson concussed. He had intended to wait until the man felt better, but now he had brought the matter up himself and he was _still_ avoiding the issue!

“You mean about the soul bonds?” he ground out.

Carson's head swiveled to look at him with wide-eyed shock. “How did you know about that, lad?”

This time it was Mac's turn to flush. “I did some research on the markers while you were on the mainland a few days ago, using the new program Kimberly's been working on. Figured it would be a good test case for it.”

“You did what?” Carson exclaimed, wincing at the pain his own raised voice brought on. “I thought I told you to stop looking into that, Mac?”

“Aye, you did. I wasn't exactly expecting to find much. Her program is still in beta, after all.”

“In beta?” Carson mumbled then shook his head. “Never mind that. Obviously you found out about the existence of the soul bonds, what else did you find?”

Taking a deep breath, Mac stared at the ceiling while counting to ten before meeting Carson's gaze again. “I found out a fair bit. Including the fact that you withheld the fact that _I_ have a soulmate and who that person _is_!” Mac ended on a roar, slamming his palms on the man's desk as he leaned toward him, glaring. “How could you, Carson?! I thought we were friends.” His voice broke on the last word.

Carson blanched, and he had to swallow several times before he found his voice again, eyes glistening with emotion. “I'm sorry, lad. I didn't really know what to do, and when I talked to Elizabeth, she thought it was best if we kept it between us for the time being.”

Disgusted, Mac pushed off from the desk and paced around the room, his fingers laced behind his head. He gave a mirthless laugh as he shook his head. “Right. Because withholding something as important as a soul bond is always the right thing to do. Seriously, Carson, what were you thinking? Both of you? This is about our _lives_. It throws everything we thought we knew into a different perspective. Everything!”

Scrubbing his face, Carson groaned. “I know, Mac. I know, alright. I've been carrying this knowledge for weeks now and I still don't know how to handle it.” Sighing, Carson added, “Please, Mac. What did you find out about the soul bonds? I'd like to have all the information I can get before the meeting with Elizabeth tomorrow.”

With a huff, Mac stalked around Carson's desk, pulled the man's laptop to him and pulled up the folder he had secured on the system. “Read for yourself,” he said curtly as he made his way to the door. Pausing, he glanced over his shoulder. “I don't know how long it'll be before I can forgive you for this Carson.”

Carson shot him a sorrowful look. “I know, lad. For what it's worth, I am very sorry.”

Mac nodded. “I know.” With that, he left in search of his own quarters.

The following morning, Mac was one of the first to arrive for the meeting. He was exhausted, not having slept very well after his confrontation with Carson the night before. Though he was trying to kick the habit, he carefully doctored a cup of coffee and took a seat. He needed the boost of caffeine today.

Elizabeth greeted him with a smile as she took her usual seat, soon followed by Carson who looked as tired as Mac felt, and Evan who seemed a little confused. Mac shot him a small smile, unable to muster more for the heavy feeling that settled in his stomach. From the look of him, Evan had no clue what this meeting was about, and Mac didn't relish what he was certain would follow.

John and Rodney straggled in last, closing the door behind them. Mac tilted his head slightly as he took in their body language. They gravitated toward each other even more so than normal. Both men looked beyond worn out, yet there was something nearly palpable between them that had Mac sitting up a little straighter. They knew they were soulmates. That had to be it. It would explain so much, knowing Rodney as he did.

Elizabeth cleared her throat. “Alright, gentlemen. I think we can begin.”

Throughout the explanation of the soul bond discoveries, Mac kept a furtive eye on the others, though most of his focus was on his major. He was unsurprised to see the color drain from Evan's face upon hearing that all ATA carriers had a soul bond. What did surprise him was the way both Rodney and John seemed to come to attention when Carson talked about the things a soul bond did. They shared a knowing look between them that confirmed Mac's suspicions.

Once Carson had relayed all the information that Mac had managed to find, Elizabeth took up the mantle again, meeting each man's eyes in turn. “Well, gentlemen. As you've heard, we've had some pretty amazing discoveries already and I'm sure there's bound to be more, if you'll pardon the pun. However, my main concern is the people of this expedition. It seems obvious to me that the regulations we've been working under can no longer apply, considering the fact that our military commander and our CSO are bonded. That said, how are we to change them without losing what structure we currently have?”

Mac thought Evan looked a little piqued, yet the man did his best to try to come up with suggestions. Something that made Mac proud of him even as he worried for him. They bounced ideas around for a while, agreeing that the fraternization regs had to go, even for those of the expedition who weren't bonded. They couldn't have two sets of rules if they were to make it in Pegasus.

Carson stared down at his hands. “That's all well and good, but how are we going to get word out there?”

Mac cleared his throat, sitting up so he could lean on the table. “I was thinking about that, actually. We _have_ to let people know about the soul bonds. That's a given. To do otherwise is cruel,” he said with a sidelong glance at Carson, who flushed but remained silent. “That said,” Mac continued, “I feel that a soul bond is an extremely personal matter. I suggest that we make the general idea public, and if people wish to know who their soulmates are, they need to come to talk to Carson. Only when both bonded express an interest in finding out who their mate is, will that information be released. I think it's the only fair thing to do.”

Elizabeth nodded, but before she could say anything Rodney chimed in, “That's actually a good idea. Carson, we need to take all the results offline so no one can try to hack into your system to find out. I really don't think it's a good idea for it to be public. There's too much room for abuse that way, and I refuse to allow that to happen. If Elizabeth's agreeable, I’ll stop by the infirmary after we're done, pull everything off the servers, and set you up with a non-networked laptop for all of this.”

“Excellent idea, Rodney,” Elizabeth said with a smile, though it faltered when she looked at him and John. “That leaves one more thing. How do _you_ want to tackle the soul bond issue? I know it's currently just a few people in the know, but given your positions in the city, I doubt it will remain a secret for long.”

John and Rodney shared a look as they reached for each other and held hands. John looked Elizabeth square in the eye. “We've talked about it and think it's best if we become the 'poster boys' of this shindig, so to speak. Like you said, there's really no hiding it for us in the long run, and at least this way we can set an example for everyone else,” John said quietly.

Mac glanced at Evan who was staring at his CO with an unreadable look. Mac didn't think it was negative in any way, at least not toward John or Rodney, but Mac wasn't so sure about that in relation to Evan himself.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Alright, that settles it, then,” Elizabeth concluded. “I will have a city-wide announcement ready later today and post it to the server, though I'll hold off on doing so until Rodney tells me all the DNA results have been secured.” Rodney nodded, already taking notes on his pad even as she continued. “Now, unless there was anything else that you feel should be addressed? No? Then I think we're done here. Better get busy, gentlemen.”

Evan nodded, still feeling slightly nauseated as he made his way out of her office on auto-pilot. He was vaguely aware of Mac calling after him but waved him off. He needed to be alone to think. All through the meeting, his thoughts had been spinning out of control and it had been all he could do to follow along with the discussion.

How he ended up on the east pier, Evan had no clue. He had absolutely no memory of making his way through the city. Sliding down against the wall, he stared out over the ocean and let his thoughts drift. He had a soulmate. Evan's ATA gene was natural, so he’d had the marker his whole life. Ioan, too.

Evan's thoughts kept circling back to his Jim. Had Jim been his soulmate? Their love had been so strong, and Evan had always been so sure of the man. Jim had been the love of his life, so surely... Evan pulled his knees up and wrapped his arms around them, burying his face between them and let the tears flow. The thought of Jim having been his mate somehow made the loss of him come to the forefront and he felt it keenly. Evan wasn't sure he really wanted the answer. He thought he already _knew_ the answer and it was lying in a grave back on Earth. Yet a tiny voice in the back of his mind kept nudging him with 'what if?'

What if it hadn't been Jim?

What if he had a soulmate, but he was one of those who didn't have their bonded on the city?

What if he did?

What if? What if? What if?

A shiver roused Evan from his thoughts as the wind picked up. A quick glance at the sky told him he had been out here longer than he had intended. He was certain to be in trouble for dereliction of duty as he was supposed to be taking care of drills, but he found he didn't care. He got stiffly to his feet, wiping his hands on his fatigues before scrubbing his face and taking a deep, calming breath. He needed to know. One way or the other. There was nothing for it.

When he made his way to the infirmary he made a beeline for Carson's office, ignoring the friendly greetings of the nurses as he passed them. Thankfully, the man was alone in his office. He knocked and Carson looked up, flinching slightly when he saw who it was. “Ah. Major Lorne,” he said with a sigh.

Stepping into the little room, Evan let his eyes roam, unable to meet the man's gaze. “I...” He cleared his throat and tried again. “I was wondering about... about my soulmate.”

Carson looked helplessly around. “Ah, lad,” he said softly. “I don't think-”

A hand on his shoulder startled Evan and he spun around, surprised to see Mac smiling sadly at him. “It's alright, Carson. I'll handle this.”

Evan frowned, wondering what Mac meant. He barely registered Carson's, “Aye, if you're sure, lad,” as Mac guided him to his own office and into a chair.

“Mac?” Evan asked shakily with a sudden feeling of trepidation.

Mac kneeled in front of him and took both Evan's hands in his. Taking a deep breath, he stared into Evan's eyes and whispered, “I'm sorry, love. I-” Closing his eyes briefly, Mac huffed and tried again. “Evan, _I'm_ your soulmate.”

For a second, Evan thought his heart was torn in two and he couldn't breathe. Couldn't _think_. Blinking rapidly, Mac's words echoed through his brain: _I'm your soulmate._

“But...” No more words would come, even though his mind was racing. Spiraling further and further downward until he had to get away. Had to get air. He had to-

Shaking his head, he jumped to his feet, knocking Mac off-balance as he all but ran out of the infirmary. No. No, it wasn't possible. It wasn't _right_. Jim had been his soulmate. He had to have been. If it was Mac, then what had his love for Jim meant? What did that say about Evan?

“Evan?!” Mac called over the comms. Evan ignored him, tearing the earpiece away from him before shutting it off. Throwing himself onto his bed, he curled up into a ball, silently begging Jim's forgiveness.

He must have dozed off because the next thing Evan became aware of was Ioan running a hand over his back just like their mom used to do when they were kids and they'd been upset. When Evan turned his face toward him, Ioan smiled sadly at him. “Oh, Ev,” he murmured.

Never had Evan been so glad to be stationed with his brother as he was in that moment. It didn't matter that they were both grown men in the military and living on another planet in another galaxy. No, in that moment, they were just Evan and Ioan, brothers and best friends as Evan filled Ioan in on everything and sharing his inner turmoil over it all. No one knew Evan better than Ioan did, understood how he worked. When he needed to just vent his spleen and when he needed a talking to. This time, he got a little bit of both as he had known he would.

“It'll be alright, Ev,” Ioan promised. “Just... give it time. Give _yourself_ time. Mac's a good guy. He understands.”

Evan rolled his eyes, huffing as he wrapped his arms around his knees again. “I know he is, but after-”

Ioan shook his head. “Who do you think called me to come check on you, doofus?”

Shocked, Evan turned to his brother, who sat grinning at him.

“ _And_ he took Major Sheppard aside and explained what was going on with you. No details, but enough to make sure the major rearranged the schedule and covered the drills. You were officially taken off duty for the day.”

Evan gaped. “Mac did that?” he asked quietly.

Ioan nodded. “Yes, he did.”

Dropping his chin on his knees, Evan stared out of his window, mumbling, “I don't think I deserve him.”

“Seems like he disagrees with that, and so do I, for that matter.”

He glanced back at his brother with a wan smile. “What? No digs?”

“Nope. Not this time. I told you before, Ev, it's about time you found someone again. You deserve love in your life. Now you have Mac. Go for it, I say.”

“Thanks, Ioan.”

“You're welcome. You gonna be okay now?”

“Yeah, I'll be fine. I just need some time to think. Sort stuff out for myself.”

Ioan nodded and hugged him. “You know where to find me,” he said as he left Evan alone to his thoughts which were a lot more hopeful than they had been earlier. His brother was right. If this whole soulmate thing was true then he did have Mac.

He sat staring out over the ocean for a while before putting his earpiece in again and tapping the comms. “Mac?” he said softly.

“Evan!” Mac sounded relieved, which sent a pang of guilt through Evan.

“Hey,” he said stupidly. “I was wondering... have you got a minute?” He bit his lip nervously, though he didn't have to wait long for his answer.

“I'll be right there.”

  
  



	20. Chapter 20

“Permission to speak freely, sir?” Ford asked as they got ready for an off-world mission.

Glancing up from where he was re-lacing his boots, John nodded. He had a feeling he knew what this was about, considering Elizabeth's announcement had gone out the day before.

“Sir, I read the e-mail from Dr. Weir, but...” he paused, eyes shifting between John and Rodney. “What does it all mean? It's got to be some kind of joke, right?”

Rodney snorted, and John barely managed to refrain from doing the same. Straightening, he cocked an eyebrow at his junior officer and teammate. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Teyla giving the boy a disapproving look. “Sorry, Ford, but this isn't a joke. The soul bonds are very real, and we're still learning what it all entails. All ATA carriers have a soulmate, though not everyone's match is currently on Atlantis. We're not sure what that means yet, either.”

Ford clipped his P90 to his vest with a scowl. “Even you, sir?”

John's brow furrowed, not much liking the tone of voice the young man was using. He wasn't entirely sure whether it was jealousy he heard or something else, but... “Yes, Ford. Even me. In fact, McKay and I are bonded,” he stated with quiet self-assurance.

Ford's head snapped up as he stared hard at his commanding officer. “But, sir!”

“Aiden,” Teyla intervened before either John or Rodney could react. “If Major Sheppard and Dr. McKay have been graced with a bonding of the soul then that is something to celebrate. Among my people, soul bonds are a thing of legend, much like the Ancestors themselves. It is not your place to question something so precious.”

Rodney had an odd little smile on his face as he looked at Teyla. John smiled at her, feeling a surge of affection for his Athosian friend. “Thank you, Teyla.”

She inclined her head gracefully. “I am pleased for you both.”

Shifting his focus back to Ford, John hardened his features. “Now, Lieutenant, unless you have something significant to add, I would say we are done with this conversation. Soul bonds exist and they are a private matter. The regulations have been adjusted to allow for this new reality. Accept it and move on.” John paused long enough to ensure he had his lieutenant's attention. Jerking his head to the door, he ordered, “Good. Now move out, we have a mission to attend to.”

John didn't miss the sour look in Ford's eyes as he saluted and have a crisp, “Yes, sir!”

Sighing, John shook his head as he watched the lieutenant walk out of the ready room. Grabbing his P90, John clipped it to his tac-vest and made to follow when Teyla placed her hand gently on his arm. He quirked an eyebrow in question, surprised by her touch.

She tilted her head and released a slow breath. “I have not had a chance to speak with you before now, but when we come back, I believe we need to have a conversation about Aiden. I feel there is something you need to know.”

John frowned and opened his mouth to ask what was going on when Rodney asked, “If it's serious, maybe you should tell us now before we head through the gate.”

Teyla shook her head. “No. I do not believe that is necessary, but I feel that as his commanding officer, Major Sheppard needs to be aware of certain things. I trust Aiden, but I know that if I were his leader, I would wish to understand him better. As I am sure Major Sheppard would, too.”

John had no idea what Teyla was alluding to, but he trusted her judgment. “Alright. Let's get this over with then so we can have that chat, shall we?”

Rodney grumbled all the way to the gate, but Teyla merely smiled serenely at him. Shaking his head, John firmly pushed his concerns aside and focused on the task at hand, which was trying to find a new trading partner.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Alert medical,” Ioan called out as soon as he stepped through the gate with an armful of Kimberly, the rest of their team following close behind.

Elizabeth had Chuck call for a gurney as she hurried down the steps, wincing when she noticed the other woman's leg sporting a field brace and bloody bandages. “What happened?” she demanded.

Kimberly waved off her concern with a grimace. “Nothing. Just had a minor disagreement with a ledge and it won.”

Elizabeth blinked questioningly at Ioan who rolled his eyes and sighed, adjusting the burden in his arms. “The path we were on to the village goes through some rather rough terrain. The ledge gave out under her, and she fell several feet and broke her leg pretty bad. It took a while to reach her and get her back on the path. We headed straight home. I'm afraid you'll have to send another team to complete the mission, Dr. Weir.”

Mac and a nurse came rushing into the gateroom, and Ioan gently placed Kimberly on it before stepping back to allow them to do their jobs. Elizabeth watched them for a moment then nodded at Ioan. “Alright. You go with her and get your medical taken care of. We'll debrief later.”

Saluting her, Ioan was relieved to be back. He had carried Kimberly the whole way back to the gate, refusing the offers of help from his team. Jerking his head to the retreating medical team, Ioan told his men to follow. Quickening his step, he caught up with them and when he was level with the gurney, he placed a comforting hand on Kimberly's shoulder. “You'll be alright now. Mac'll take good care of you, right, Mac?”

Mac grinned. “Aye, of course. Even if it does mean Carson'll be her favorite doctor again.”

Kimberly huffed. “Trust me, Mac, if you give me the good stuff, _you'll_ be my favorite doctor. This _hurts!_ ”

Ioan suppressed a smile. “First broken bone?” he inquired.

“Yes,” she ground out. “And if it's the last one I'll ever have, it'll be too soon.”

Ioan and Mac shared an amused glance as they rolled her into the infirmary. “Alright, Ioan, you and your team stay here. Carson'll be along shortly to see to your post-mission medical. I need to get this girl in for surgery so we can fix her up.”

Reluctantly, Ioan nodded. Squeezing Kimberly's hand, he stared at her. “You'll be fine. I'll be right here when you get back, okay?”

She gave him a tremulous smile as she squeezed him back. “Thanks, Ioan. Mac! For the love of all that is holy, _please_ get me some painkillers,” she cried out.

Ioan watched her being taken to the OR with a heavy feeling in his gut, his mind's eye replaying her fall over and over. For a second, he had been afraid that she had been lost to him forever, she had been so still. By the time he had made it down to her side, she had come to again and cried out, which had filled him with such stark relief he had swayed on his feet. Running a hand through his hair, Ioan sighed.

“She'll be fine, lad,” Carson assured him as he walked up to them. He patted the bed and Ioan dutifully hopped on and subjected himself to the string of tests that were part of post-mission protocol.

Elizabeth stopped by the infirmary to do the debriefing, which surprised Ioan. He and the rest of the team were fine, after all, but Ioan appreciated the consideration she showed. The meeting didn't take very long at all, and soon Ioan was left alone to wait for Kimberly to make it out of surgery. He watched from the observation deck, arms tight around his chest. His head knew she would be perfectly fine, but he couldn't get rid of the knot of worry that had taken residence in his stomach.

Their first kiss had happened only a few days ago, and he was still shaken up by her fall. The thought that that kiss might have been all they'd get to share tore at him. They hadn't talked much – hadn't had a chance, really, between one thing and another – about their burgeoning relationship. They definitely hadn't had the opportunity to discuss the announcement from Dr. Weir about soul bonds yet. He wanted to ask Carson about it, but he was hesitant. Not because he didn't want to know the answer but because part of him didn't feel right to do it without Kimberly. He very much wanted her to be his soulmate.

One of the nurses finally rolled Kimberly out of OR, and Ioan rushed over to help move her to a bed then stood aside to let the nurse check her vitals and make sure everything was as it should be. By the time she was done, Kimberly was starting to come to.

She gave him a dopey smile and reached to pat his arm awkwardly. “There's m'hero,” she mumbled, causing Ioan to blush and the nurse to laugh. Kimberly turned to face the nurse with a frown. “He saved me, you know.”

Amused, the nurse tucked Kimberly's arm over her chest. “I know,” she said kindly. To Ioan, she said quietly, “She needs to rest. She'll be in and out of it for a while, so don't be surprised if she comes out with some strange notions. You're welcome to sit with her for now, but don't stay too long.”

Ioan nodded. “Thank you.” He waited until the nurse was out of sight to gently take Kimberly's hand in his. Smiling down at her, he reached out and moved a lock of hair from her forehead so it wouldn't fall into her eyes. “Hey, you.”

Kimberly giggled. “Hi!”

Ioan's grin widened at the open, childlike expression on her face. “You had me worried there for a while,” he admonished gently.

Her mouth puckered. “I know. 'M sorry.”

Heedless of their surroundings, Ioan gave into the impulse and pressed his lips to her forehead. “Try not to make a habit of it,” he murmured.

She closed her eyes and hummed, leaning into his touch. “Won't. Promise.” Her brow furrowed. “'M tired.”

“Get some sleep. I'll stop by again later to check on you.”

“'Mkay. Bring jello?” she mumbled, already half-asleep.

Ioan chuckled. “Sure.” He watched her for a few minutes as she slept, his thumb rubbing gently back and forth over the back of her hand. He hoped he was right and that they were bonded because Ioan could not even begin to imagine not having her in his life. He promised himself he would broach the subject once she was fully coherent again. Not knowing for sure was doing his head in. With one final brush of a kiss, Ioan left her to rest.

When Ioan made his way back to the infirmary hours later, he dutifully brought Kimberly a cup of jello, as well as a cup of diced fruit. Kimberly's face lit up when she saw him and she struggled to get into a more comfortable position. “Ioan!”

Grinning, he placed his offering on the tray by her bed and helped her into a reclining position. “Hey you. You're looking better.”

She rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him. “Mac's still my favorite doctor,” she proclaimed with a glint in her eyes.

He laughed. “I take it he has you on the good drugs, then?”

She nodded. “Better believe it.” Kimberly grinned and made grabby hands. “Jello! You're the best. Ohhh _and_ a fruit cup? Why, Ioan, you shouldn't have. A girl might think you're up to something,” she teased.

Chuckling, Ioan dutifully handed her the jello. “Actually, I am. Sort of.”

She stared up at him in surprise. “You are?” She took a bite, watching him curiously.

Blushing, Ioan scratched the back of his head. “I...” He huffed, feeling ten kinds of a fool, but he had to know. “I was wondering whether you'd talked to Carson at all about the whole soul bond thing?” he asked quietly.

Lowering the cup to her lap, she reached out to grab his hand. “No, not yet. You?”

He shook his head. “It... it didn't feel right to do it without talking to you first. Is that weird?”'

She shrugged. “No, not really. Did you want to do it now?”

Nodding, Ioan tapped his comms. “Dr. Beckett?”

“Aye?” came a voice from around the corner, startling them both. Turning, Ioan saw the man walking toward them with an unreadable expression.

“Doc, where did you come from?” Ioan asked.

Carson waved the question off dismissively. “I was in my office. Now, what can I do for you, then, Lieutenant?”

Sharing a quick look with Kimberly, Ioan took a deep breath. “We were wondering about who our soulmate was.” Kimberly squeezed his hand lightly. He both wanted to and couldn't quite look at her, so he kept his gaze locked on Carson.

Carson's eyes twinkled with mischief, Ioan thought. The man cleared his throat and attempted a stern look as he crossed his arms. “Now, you two. You oughta know better than to come to me like this. Dr. Weir stated quite clearly that it was a private matter.”

“Oh,” Ioan said lamely, his stomach dropping to somewhere around his knees. That must mean it wasn't Kimberly, then. He stared down at their hands, feeling more devastated than he would ever care to admit to.

At Carson's chuckle, Ioan's head snapped up. Carson schooled his face and offered them both an apologetic smile. “I'm sorry, lad. I shouldn't have done that.” He pointed between the two of them and grinned. “I think you both know the answer to your question already, but if it makes you feel better, then yes, Ioan, Kimberly is your bonded.”

Ioan laughed shakily as relief washed over him. Gazing down at Kimberly, his smile widened when he took in her obvious elation at the news. “I get to keep you?” he whispered without meaning to.

Kimberly's look turned mischievous, her eyes dancing with delight. “You'd better. I certainly have no intention of letting you go now.”

Coughing softly, Carson murmured, “Aye, I'll leave you two to it then, shall I? And Ioan?” Ioan looked up questioningly. “Please remember that she's still in recovery,” Carson teased.

Holding up both hands in mock surrender, Ioan grinned. “No worries, doc. I'll behave.”

“See that you do,” Carson murmured.

At the same time Kimberly said quietly, “Wish you wouldn't,” earning her a warning glare from Carson.

“Now, lass!” Carson intoned with a wagging finger.

“Alright, alright. We'll behave. Don't worry, I remember who wields the big needles,” she quipped, causing both men to laugh.

As soon as Carson was gone, Kimberly beckoned Ioan to her. Leaning in, Ioan kissed her tenderly, savoring the knowledge that she was really his.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

For days now, Carson had been fielding requests from people who wanted to know who their soulmate was. Most of the ATA carriers had come forward, though not all. During that time, it had warmed Carson's heart to see the reactions to the news, as more often than not, it had been well received. There had been a few occasions, like with Major Lorne, where the person receiving the name of their soulmate was met with distress, but thankfully those were in the minority.

Then there were those few who flat out refused to know who their bonded were. Kavanagh had been one marked example, adamantly proclaiming the whole idea of a soulmate was preposterous and that he wanted absolutely nothing to do with 'that claptrap,' as he had put it. Carson wished he could say that his outburst had been a shock to those around him, but... well, it was Kavanagh.

Staring out over the ocean, Carson sighed as he leaned on the railing of the balcony nearest the mess hall. Of course, there was one person whose absence in the long line of people requesting the name of their mate he most keenly felt. So far, one Dr. Miko Kusanagi had not come forward. He knew from Kimberly that she had no wish to know, not because she didn't believe in the soul bond, but precisely because she did. “If it is meant to be, then it will happen,” she had told Kimberly.

Still, a part of him wished she had sought him out. It would make everything so much easier. Everywhere he looked, it seemed to him that relationships were flourishing and he had to admit that he felt a stab of jealousy. “You'd think that knowing who you're meant to be with would make the whole matter of asking someone out simpler,” he muttered under his breath.

“Hmm, you would think, wouldn't you?” Mac's voice sounded from behind him, causing Carson to jump out of his skin.

“Bloody hell, Mac! When did you become so sneaky?” Carson panted, covering his chest as he tried to regulate his heartbeat.

Mac's wry amusement was apparent as he shrugged. “Natural talent?” His eyes roamed past him, taking in the vastness of the ocean before focusing back on Carson. “Why are you waiting, Carson?”

Carson contemplated pretending that he didn't know what Mac was talking about but quickly discarded the thought. Turning around, he once again leaned against the railing and stared out onto the large expanse of water. “I don't want to push myself on her.”

“Bull,” was Mac's response as he settled in next to him.

Heaving a heavy sigh, Carson nodded. “Aye, you're probably right,” he admitted quietly. They had both read enough about the soul bonds by now to know that while the markers indicated a person had a soulmate, it did not negate free will. If Miko truly did not want Carson, she could reject him and they both would move on with their lives, though neither would be fully complete without the other.

Straightening, Mac glowered at him. Carson winced. Despite the fact the man was here, talking to him about Miko, he knew full well that he still hadn't fully forgiven him for keeping his soulmate a secret. He hoped that one day soon, Mac could find it in him to get past it because he missed the easy friendship they used to have. Still, he knew that was all on him so he couldn't really say much about that. “Carson, sometimes you are an idiot to the extreme. _You_ know she is your soulmate. You know she wishes any relationship to form naturally. Obviously, you can't un-learn about the bond, but you can respect her wish. So. Ask. Her. Out.”

Dropping his head onto his folded arms, Carson groaned. He had always been terrible at the whole dating thing. Even knowing that Miko and he shared a soul bond, he wasn't sure he could pull it off and not send the poor girl running for the hills.

Mac nudged his arm. “Stop that,” he scolded. “Letting your insecurities rule you isn't going to help matters and you know it. I'm serious. Ask her out on an actual date. I know the options are limited here, but you aren't without any, and you have people who would help if you asked them.”

Carson huffed a laugh in spite of himself. “Kimberly.”

“Aye,” Mac said, grinning. “You know she's been trying to get you both to see sense for ages. I'm pretty sure she can help cook up something special even from her sickbed, so you have no excuses.” He paused. “Or you could just try to do it on your own, you might surprise yourself.”

Carson nodded thoughtfully. They stood in silence for a while, each lost to their own thoughts until Mac got called to the infirmary. “Think about it,” the man said as he turned to leave.

“I will,” Carson promised. He remained on the balcony for a while longer, going over possible plans until he settled on a course of action. Gathering his resolve, he squared his shoulders and headed to the kitchen to see about organizing a picnic. His next stop was Major Sheppard to request the use of a jumper in the event Miko accepted his invitation. If she declined, he figured there was no harm done other than to his pride, since the food would last him a few days. Thankfully, John was more than happy to give him the use of a jumper under the premise of it being flight practice.

“Any pilot needs to get his flight time in,” John said with a wink.

Carson's face flushed slightly as he nodded. “Aye. Thank you, Major.”

“You're welcome. And... good luck.”

All that was left now was to ask Miko, so bidding the major good day, Carson went down to the labs. It took him a bit longer to locate the woman as she had been sent to another part of the city for maintenance of some machine or other, but when he finally found her, he almost thought better of asking her. Before he could escape, however, Miko spotted him and smiled warmly at him.

“Err.. hello, Miko,” he stammered, blushing. Breathe, Carson, he reminded himself. Just breathe. “I was wondering whether-” He swallowed hard. Why had his throat gone so dry suddenly?

“Yes?” she prodded gently. Her eyes held mild curiosity.

You can do this, Carson, he told himself firmly. Taking a steadying breath, he offered her a small smile. “I was hoping maybe you would like to go out with me? On a picnic?”

The smile that lit her face took Carson's breath away. God, but she was beautiful. “Hai,” she whispered. “I would like that, very much.”

Carson let out a long sigh of relief. He'd finally asked her out, and Miko had said yes! “When can you go?”

She glanced at her watch and seemed to do some quick thinking. “One hour?”

“Great. Meet me in the jumper bay?”

“Hai.”

Carson nodded and left her to finish her work. Heading to his office with a bounce in his step, he thought that perhaps things might work out alright after all.

 


	21. Chapter 21

The computer dinged, alerting Kimberly to her search program getting a hit. Twisting in her seat, she cursed under her breath. Her damn leg was going to drive her up the wall soon, but at least Mac had cleared her to go back to work – as long as she stuck to desk work only. When she had maneuvered herself to where she could see the screen, she quickly scanned the readout. “Oh. My. God,” she whispered, hitting her comms. “Dr. McKay, could you come down to my lab, please?”

“What is it, Kimberly? I'm kind of busy here,” Rodney groused in her ear.

“Trust me, Rodney, you'll want to see this. And if John is with you, you might want to bring him along.” If what she was reading was any indication, and if the satellite was still around and in working order, she was pretty sure that both Rodney and John were liable to spontaneously combust. Hell, the specs on this thing almost had _her_ rubbing her thighs together.

A long suffering sigh followed by, “Fine. We'll be there in ten,” had her grinning. While she waited for Rodney to show, she adjusted her search parameters a little and by the time he and John walked into her lab, she had found more information.

“What was so urgent, Kim?” Rodney grumbled.

She turned, grinning, and almost laughed at John goodnaturedly rolling his eyes at his mate. Pointing at her screen, she said, “See for yourself.” Lowering her leg from the stool it was resting on, she moved aside so both Rodney and John could take a look. It was most gratifying to hear the sounds of delight coming from both men. When they looked up, she didn't even try to suppress the smugness she felt, so she crossed her arms and grinned. “Told you.”

Gripping Rodney's arm, John seemed to have a hard time not letting the little boy inside him jump with joy. As toys went, a giant weapons satellite was… well... big. “Kimberly,” John said hoarsely, “is there any way to tell if it's still out there?”

She sighed, shaking her head. “No, not from here. _If_ the satellite still exists, it is either damaged or out of power. Or both, come to think of it. The only way to really know for sure is to go check it out in person.”

John and Rodney shared an excited look. “According to the specs, there's a loading dock for the jumpers, John. We could fly out there.”

He bit his lip, mulling it over. “Elizabeth might not like it. It'd take us a good fifteen hours to get there, Rodney. But if it's there... if it works...”

Kimberly cleared her throat, getting their attention. “From what I read, if it's merely out of power, we should be able to hook it up to our naquedah generators. The power requirements are not dissimilar to that of the systems we have them on here in the city.”

Rodney bent to read for himself then nodded. “Surprisingly enough, she's right, John. You'd have thought it'd require a ZPM just like the chair, but this seems different. Still insanely powerful of course, but we should be able to make it work.”

John nodded, reaching out to squeeze Kimberly's shoulder. “You did good, Kimberly.”

She smiled wanly. “Thanks. If Dr. Weir okays the mission, I don't suppose I have a chance in hell of going, do I?”

Rodney glared at her, arms crossed tight around his chest. “No.”

“But Rodney!” she whined. Damn her stupid broken leg. “I could-”

“No way, Kim. You're not cleared for that kind of duty, and even if you were, I still wouldn't let you go. God only knows what we'll be faced with if and when we find it and until you are completely mobile again, you are a liability in the field. Besides, Ioan would gut me.”

She huffed, pouting. Rodney was right and she knew it, but that didn't mean she had to like it. John patted her shoulder. “Sorry, Kimberly. Maybe next time.”

“Yeah, because there'll be so many other weapons satellites out there,” she groused, though there was no real heat in it. Taking a breath, she tapped her finger on her desk. “Okay, so I won't be going. You'll still need a couple of people with you to help look it over.”

Rodney nodded, crossing his legs as he settled against the desk. “You're right. I want you to bring Gall and Abrams up to speed and I want you to keep digging in the database. Anything you find on that thing, I want uploaded to our pads.”

“Can do,” she assured, already putting in a new search parameter. “When are you planning on leaving?”

Rodney glanced at John, who answered. “Assuming Elizabeth gives a green light, I want to be wheels up in two hours. There's no point in delaying longer than that, but I want to give you some time to get everything prepped. And by 'in two hours', I mean from now, not from when Elizabeth says 'yes'.”

Kimberly's lips twitched, her eyes dancing with amusement. “Think you can talk her around that quickly?”

John grinned. “Watch me.”

Rodney rolled his eyes and huffed. “Alright, flyboy. Let's go. We all have work to do,” he chided, herding John out of the lab.

Kimberly called after them, “Don't do anything I wouldn't do!” Lifting her leg back up on the stool, she sighed, trying to get comfortable again. She was getting so tired of being in that damn cast. Hitting her comms, she paged Drs. Gall and Abrams even as she began sending the information already obtained to their pads.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Come on, John, please?” Rodney wheedled for the umpteenth time.

John sighed, closing his eyes briefly. “Rodney, do we have to do this now?” he said quietly, jerking his head to the two men behind them. He loved the man, he really did, but John had realized fairly early on that Rodney didn't like to lose face in front of his minions and, well, Rodney really sucked at flying. He _was_ getting better, admittedly, but John wasn't sure that giving him a flying lesson _now_ was the best idea.

“Oh, please, Major, just let him have a go,” Abrams exclaimed tiredly. “Or we'll never have any peace.”

“Not that we ever do,” grumbled Gall, which made John frown. There seemed to be an underlying friction between Gall and Rodney, but Rodney declined to comment on it.

“Fine. Here, take the wheel. Just... take it easy this time, okay?” John said as he got out of the pilot's seat so Rodney could slide in. Once the man had a handle on the controls, John took Rodney's seat. He shook his head at how tight his mate's posture had become, though he couldn't help but smile at the look of excitement on his face. Okay, so maybe it was worth it to have him have a lesson on this trip, despite the audience.

John noticed Gall get up unsteadily and move to the back of the jumper to use the head. When he came back a few minutes later, John thought he looked a little green around the gills. Frowning, he was about to ask if the man was okay when Rodney tightened his grip on the controls even further. “Ease up on the controls a little,” John cautioned.

“I'm fine,” Rodney assured.

Shaking his head slightly, John contradicted him. “You're gonna snap the damn things off in a minute. Ease up!”

“I'm just seeing what this baby can do.”

Abrams snorted. “Did you just say 'this baby'?”

“Ah, that's perfectly appropriate space pirate parlance,” Rodney quipped.

Quipped! Rodney! In another time and place, John thought that Rodney could have been playing in a bumper car for all the enjoyment he seemed to take in flying the jumper. “Try to fly 'the baby' in a straight line,” John said wryly.

“I'm flying in a straight line!” Rodney protested, frowning at him.

John huffed slightly as he pulled up the HUD. First it showed their projected course, and then their current trajectory. Quirking a brow, John murmured, “Yeah, not so much.”

“Well,” Rodney said, shrugging. “In space all motion is relative.”

From the corner of his eye, John could see Gall hunkering down in his seat looking ill. He was fanning his face and appeared to want to be anywhere but here. Half-turning in his seat, John asked, “Are you okay, Dr. Gall?”

Gall waved him off, a pinched expression on his face, claiming he got motion sickness. John bit his tongue, shooting his mate a look of disbelief. Had Gall really been Rodney's best choice for this mission? Leaning across the console, John whispered to Rodney, “Why did you pick him for this mission?”

Rodney turned to him, waving his hand dismissively. “Because he's one of the few people on my team that have studied Ancient weaponry. I figured that might prove useful?” Rodney said with an air of stating the obvious.

John nodded then snapped, “Don't let go of the controls!” when he realized what Rodney had done.

Jumping in his seat, Rodney fumbled to get ahold of the controls again. “Snapping doesn't help!” He glowered at John.

Rolling his eyes, John shook his head. “This is why parents get someone else to teach their kids how to drive.” Maybe he could have one of the Lorne brothers give lessons to Rodney instead, because John really wasn't in the mood to let their respective tempers lead to a fight over this. At least if Rodney got mad at one of them instead of John, he would still have a chance at getting laid.

Rodney shot him a sharp look. “I am both insulted and touched by that,” he all but sneered.

Yeah, that definitely sounded like Rodney, John thought. Gall's whispered, “Oh my God,” made him look up. For a minute, all four men simply stared out of the viewscreen at the approaching satellite. It was _massive_ , and from the look of things, at least appeared to be in one piece. John's stomach did a little flip when he imagined the fire power this thing would have if they ever got it up and running again. It would make any confrontation with the Wraith a lot easier to handle, and John had absolutely no doubts in his mind that the Wraith were coming.

As the satellite loomed closer, John got up. “McKay?” Eyes on the viewscreen, they switched places, neither one willing to risk any mishaps now they were so close to their goal. Leaving the scientists to whatever it was they did, John got as close as he dared for the moment. Gall confirmed the station was dead, noting again they could probably hook it up to a generator.

While he and Rodney were debating the chances of that, Abrams interrupted them. “Wait, wait... I'm picking up something on the ultra-low frequency range.”

John turned his head toward the man. “Where's it coming from,” he asked as Abrams switched on the audio. John frowned, trying to place where he'd heard the sound before. It dawned on him at the same time as Rodney said, “The planet. It's a distress call. A _Wraith_ distress call.”

He and Rodney shared a long, knowing look. There was no way the Wraith could be here this soon or they would have heard about it already. Which meant that this ship had been here since the war with the Ancients over ten thousand years ago. John's thoughts automatically began to weigh the pros and cons of checking out the distress beacon. It didn't take him long. Whatever intel they could gain would be worth any risk, and surely no Wraith could still be living after this much time. Could it?

“Contact Atlantis,” John said quietly.


	22. Chapter 22

“Rodney?” John whispered, gently shaking his mate in an attempt to rouse him from the nightmare he was having. He got no response other than another whimper. Resting his forehead against Rodney's shoulder, John sighed and closed his eyes, wishing he could ease his mate's conscience, to relieve his guilt over Gall killing himself in front of him. He wished he had never decided to check out that stupid Wraith ship, that he’d taken the scientists back to Atlantis and gone back with a proper team instead. “Come on, baby, wake up. You're safe. I'm here. Please, wake up.” He repeated the litany until the other man began to stir into wakefulness.

“John?” Rodney's voice cracked as he clutched at John, his eyes still unfocused and full of pain. “I dreamed... I saw...” Burrowing his face into John's neck, Rodney whimpered. “I can't get the sight of him out of my head, John. How do I live with that?”

Shifting them so Rodney was half on top of him, John wrapped his arms around his mate and stroked his back soothingly. “I know. I'm sorry you had to see that. It'll fade over time. Gall made that choice himself, Rodney. He-”

Rodney reared up, anger suffusing his features. “Because I wouldn't leave him. Because he knew that I felt you get hit and I wanted to help _you_. Gall _shot_ himself so I wouldn't have to make a choice and I don't know how to deal with that!” he shouted, voice breaking several times.

John winced. “I'm sorry, Rodney, I didn't know, okay? This was the first time either of us got hurt since we completed our bond. I didn't know it'd be different from when I felt you get injured during the storm.” He remembered how, after the Wraith had finally been blasted to hell, Rodney had been frantic, demanding to see where John had been shot. It wasn't until he was satisfied that John honestly was going to be okay that the shock of watching Gall commit suicide hit the man. It didn't really come as a surprise to him that Rodney ended up having nightmares about it, but he still wished there was something he could do to take that pain away from his mate.

Pulling the other man down again, John pressed a kiss to the top of his head and sighed. “I think it might be a good idea if you talked to Kate, baby.”

Rodney shook his head. “No,” he insisted.

Lifting his head, John frowned at his mate. “Rodney, you just experienced a pretty traumatic event even by my stoic standards. You need to talk to someone about it that can help you try to make sense of things again. And yes, I know how that sounds coming from me,” he added quickly when Rodney opened his mouth to object, “but even I've had my head shrunk when it was necessary, and this is necessary.”

Rodney blinked in surprise at that. “You did? When?”

Quirking a brow, John gave him a sad smile. “When I was forced to watch my best friend die in my arms. It's why I was sent to Antarctica, so I could get my head on straight again.”

The other man's mouth formed a perfect 'o' as he stared down at him. “I'm sorry,” he murmured.

Shaking his head, John traced his mate's lips with his thumb. “Don't be. I've come to terms with the fact that I wasn't meant to save him that time,” he said quietly. He might have come to terms with that, he admitted quietly to himself, but that didn't mean the loss of Holland hurt any less for it. “Just... consider it at least? Talking to Kate, I mean?”

Rodney nodded.

Clearing his throat, John offered him a wan smile. “Good.” Glancing at his watch, he sighed. “Might as well get up and start our day. We're off the schedule for a while as far as off-world missions go, so I figured we could do some exploring on base instead. Didn't you say the other day that you wanted a few teams to go check out the piers that got flooded during the storm?”

Pushing himself up, Rodney sat on the edge of the bed for a while, staring at the floor as he spoke. “Yeah. I mean, who knows what stuff the Ancients left behind down there, and I'd really rather not get taken by surprise if the city's structure was damaged by the storm. Figured it would be a good two-for-one exercise.” He glanced up at John, who reached up and cupped his cheek.

“Okay. I wish I could go down with you, but duty calls.” He pulled a face and muttered, “Stupid paperwork,” under his breath. “But I'll send Ford to tag along to watch your back. And teams two, three, and six. That ought to be enough, right?”

Rodney pondered for a moment. “Think so. Unless you think we'd need more than a fifty/fifty ratio?”

“Nah. Just... be careful, okay?”

Rolling his eyes, Rodney leaned in for a kiss. “Of course. And you, too.” At John's look of pseudo-innocence, Rodney poked his chest and glowered. “I know all about the session you have planned later today with Teyla. Did you really think you could keep that from me, Sheppard?”

“Aww come on, Rodney,” John all but whined. “I'm _fine_. The bullet grazed my arm. Training with Teyla isn't going to do any harm. Well, no more than usual at any rate.”

Rodney huffed. “I don't see why you feel the need to get beaten up all the time until you're black and blue all over.”

“Hey! I am not _that_ bad,” John protested. Okay, so maybe he was, but come on! At Rodney's glare, John relented, raising his hands in defeat. “Alright, alright. I'll be careful, I promise.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Oh, please. Prime.” Rodney said, rolling his eyes. “Four thousand and twenty one.”

Radek grinned. “Ahh, nice try. Not-Prime. Okay, Lieutenant Ford. Five hundred and ninety nine.” Playing Prime/Not-Prime with Rodney had become like the games his mother used to play with him whenever they went for long drives. Something to occupy the mind while doing something else. This time, however, the game was a lot more fun because so far, the young lieutenant had not gotten a single answer right. It shouldn't be possible, but there it was.

“I don't _care_ if it's a Prime number or not,” Ford groused, glaring at them over his shoulder.

“Come on,” Radek wheedled. “Yes or no.”

“No!” Ford grouched.

Radek and Rodney shared knowing grins and Radek couldn't quite suppress a chuckle. Clearing his throat, Radek affected a more serious face. “Err, Lieutenant, would you mind being subject of research paper on statistical improbabilities?”

Ford stopped in his tracks and towered over Radek menacingly. “This is some sort of payback for guys like me beating up guys like you in highschool, right?”

Radek gulped, opening his mouth to answer but no sound would come out. Ford stalked off, leaving Radek to take a few shaky breaths. He had always thought the young man to be friendly and easy going enough, but this encounter made him wonder if he had been mistaken. Yes, both he and Rodney had teased the man, but surely not so bad to warrant that reaction. Radek knew that he and many of his fellow scientists had suffered far worse during their lives.

Shaking his head, he followed after the group to the rendezvous point, half his attention on his pad and half on Rodney as he talked to someone about their findings and then contacted Dr. Weir. Radek caught the tail end of their conversation. “It's dark, it's damp, and it smells bad, but from an engineering point of view, we're good.” Rodney listened, nodding. “Heading back.”

Snapping his fingers, Rodney turned to make sure he had everyone's attention. “Alright you clowns, listen up. I don't often get a chance to say this so savor it: Good work, boys and girls. Let's head home.”

Radek chuckled at his friend. It amazed him how much Rodney had changed these past few months. It used to be a rare occurrence to see the man in a good mood, let alone praise anyone he worked with, so this was truly a novelty. Checking his pad again, he frowned. “Ah, wait wait wait.”

Rodney turned to look at him. “What?”

“Ah, we are missing Johnson and Wagner,” he said, pushing up his glasses.

Rodney scanned the group, brow furrowing as he tapped his comms. “Johnson. Wagner. What's your position?” He sighed, rolling his eyes when there was no answer for several seconds.

“We need back up! They're coming at us!” Wagner suddenly screamed over the radio, causing everyone to jump.

“What? Where are you?” Rodney asked, instantly alert. Radek peered at his pad to check for lifesigns, but could not see anything beyond the people who were supposed to be there. His heart started to race at the thought that the Wraith may be on the city, or another one of those energy monsters. Or something worse that simply didn't bear thinking about.

Ford pointed at Radek, demanding to know where they were and Radek pointed to their heading.

“We're on our way,” Rodney yelled and set off at a sprint, everyone else following behind.

Stumbling, Radek stared at the body of Wagner sprawled on the floor before him. It had been years since he had seen a dead person. Not since before he had left his country, and it was something he had actively avoided since.

Rodney tapped his comms. “I need Beckett with a med team down here, stat!”

Johnson sat huddled against the wall, whimpering. When Rodney got her attention, she freaked out and started batting at an invisible foe. When she fell, Radek kneeled at her head, gently lifting it into his lap as he checked her pulse. Nothing. She was gone. Blinking owlishly up at Rodney, he whispered. “Is no use. She is gone.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Teyla smacked John across the ass with her bantos rods, causing him to rise to his toes and hiss. His head just wasn't in it for some reason, but he stubbornly refused to give up so he shook the sting of her blow off and prowled around her. Working out had always served him well as a distraction, so he stayed the course and continued his training. Minutes ticked by and Teyla met his attacks at every turn, delivering blow after blow that John knew would leave bruises that Rodney was sure to give him hell for.

He just could not focus, no matter how hard he tried. He knew Teyla was good, and that any time in the gym with her meant he would get his ass handed to him, but this time seemed much worse than normal. Something wasn't right. For the last couple of hours, John had had a weird... feeling... It was something to do with the soul bond, of that John was certain, because it was too reminiscent of the sensation he had had when Rodney had been injured during the Genii attack on the city. At the same time, however, it was totally different, but he couldn't shake the certainty that it had to do with his mate.

Teyla landed several vicious blows on his arms, ass, and thighs, bringing him to his knees with swift efficiency. He tried to get away from her, but she was faster and had him pulled to her in a chokehold using the rods. He felt almost relieved because this meant the day's torture known as training would be over. His relief was short lived, though, when he heard the disappointment in her voice. “You have not been practicing,” she scolded.

John bristled. “I have, too!”

She let him go and he got to his feet, explaining what was troubling him. As always, she listened to his concerns. “Major, I think-” she started, only for the sound of Elizabeth's voice over the intercom to drown her words out.

“May I have everyone's attention please. We have run into a questionable medical situation, and at Dr. Beckett's suggestion, we have decided to put the city into a self-regulated quarantine. For at least the next couple of hours, I need everyone to stay where they are and report anyone moving freely through the halls. I hope you understand. Thank you.”

What the hell was that all about? That weird feeling increased, and John knew that whatever was going on, Rodney was in the middle of it. Damnit! Digging through his bag, he cursed under his breath. No radio. Turning to Teyla, he asked if she had brought hers. Thankfully, she had and she handed it over without a word.

“Elizabeth, what's going on?” John demanded, unable to tone down his concern.

“We're not sure, John.”

“Why wasn't I informed about the situation before now?” he cut across her.

“You were off radio, Major.” Elizabeth's voice held a warning edge to it. “And we had to make a decision quickly. This is a medical situation, John, so you were not needed. I will let you know if that changes.” When he started to protest, she added a curt, “These protocols were put in place long before we got to the city, Major. Now please, stay put and let us do our jobs.”

Growling under his breath, John reluctantly agreed to stay put, even though everything in him was telling him he needed to be out there doing _something_. He had no idea what use he possibly could be, but Rodney was down there and potentially in danger and that stupid whatever it was that was bugging at him was getting worse. It was beginning to feel like a combination of a mosquito buzzing around your ears and that uncomfortable sensation after a sunburn when it's stopped hurting, only it was concentrated around the back of his head.

Half an hour went by at a maddeningly slow pace and John got antsier by the minute. Something was definitely _wrong_ with Rodney. He radioed Elizabeth again for an update, only to be told that Peterson had left the north pier, breaching the self-regulated quarantine. John tried to argue that he and Teyla go after him, but Elizabeth was adamant they stay put. Clenching his teeth, John took a deep breath in an effort to calm himself. “Damnit, Elizabeth, I can't just _sit_ here!”

“John, this is still a medical situation, _not_ a military one,” she reminded him sternly.

John honestly didn't give a rat's ass at that point whether it was medical or military, he just needed to be doing something. He _needed_ to help his mate. “I don't have time for this,” he grumbled, heading toward the door.

“Peter, shut the doors to the gym,” Elizabeth ordered, and they swung shut in his face.

“Elizabeth!” John growled. Think, John, think! “Bates! I order you to open the doors between the gym and the control tower.”

“Don't!”

John was aware of Teyla's presence, and he knew she was disappointed in him when he left the gym at a trot the second they had opened. He couldn't help that at the moment, though. He had never been good at sitting on his hands when he felt he had something to offer and this time it was so much worse because his soulmate was in danger.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Kimberly poured over the information scrolling down the screen, blinking rapidly to wick away the tears that wouldn't stop coming. She wanted to scream, to lash out at the unfairness of it all. Here she was, in Atlantis, the lost city of the Ancients with all its treasures just waiting for her to discover them and she would be dead before the day was over. Precisely _because_ of one of those 'treasures', and because she and Ioan had the misfortune of having run into Dumais, Rodney, and Hayes, who in turn had crossed paths with Wagner and Johnson who were now dead.

She shivered slightly as she recalled Dumais’ final moments, the paranoia and fear that had plagued her. Dumais had kept talking about ‘them’ and asking why no one could see the ghosts, claiming they were everywhere, attacking everyone.

Radek had gone over the logs of everyone’s movements and surmised Johnson and Wagner had come across the lab they were currently in. _Something_ had infected them, and they in turn had passed whatever it was on to the rest of them.

Kimberly sighed. She wasn't even supposed to really be on duty, but she had sweet talked Mac into giving her the all clear as long as Ioan stuck to her like glue and made sure she didn't overdo things. This was supposed to be _safe_.

Ioan, she thought, her heart aching. He was the most wondrous treasure discovered since coming here, as far as she was concerned. Her soulmate. It was still so new, and there was still so much for them to figure out, and now they never would. Ioan had insisted they take things slow, at least until she was back on her feet again, so they hadn't gone further than second base.

A gentle hand to the back of her neck made her sigh, a chuckle escaping her. “I'm sorry,” she whispered, looking up at Ioan.

He shook his head, his smile falling short of reaching his eyes. “Don't be. Trust me, I get it. This sucks,” he murmured.

She nodded, leaning into him for just a moment. Her heart rate spiked as she caught sight of the 'ghost' the others had described, and she barely managed to stifle her scream. Beside her, she felt Ioan stiffen and they shared a panicked look. It was happening to them and that meant they wouldn't have much time left. She'd seen Rodney flinch a couple of times already, too. A quick glance around the room found Hayes huddled on the other side of the lab with a pinched expression.

Squaring her shoulders, she jerked her head to Hayes, her eyes on Ioan as she said quietly, “Why don't you go check on him? I'll be alright. I need to get back to searching for answers anyway.”

Squeezing her neck affectionately, he nodded. “Alright. I'm here if you need me, okay?”

“I know,” she assured, kissing his cheek. She watched him for a moment as he wandered off to talk to Hayes then shook her head and forced herself to focus. The clock was ticking, after all, and she would do everything in her power to try to save Ioan. She just wished that she could implement her search program, but the lab wasn't linked to the mainframe.

How much time passed, she wasn't sure and she was only vaguely aware of the conversations around her. So far, she had found a possible culprit that seemed like it would fit what was happening to them, but there was little information to be had on it. No cures, no further research, nothing beyond the fact that they were nanites designed to create hallucinations and cause aneurysms. It made absolutely no sense to her that the Ancients had been experimenting on something like this, and she promised herself she would dig further into it if she ever got the chance.

She studiously tried to ignore the 'ghosts' that were coming at her with higher frequency. When Hayes started yelling, Kimberly's throat tightened. Spinning around, she stared in horror as Hayes fought an unseen enemy, just as the others had, and then he simply... stopped, dropping to the floor in a heap. Kimberly's knees buckled, and Ioan was there in an instant to keep her upright. “It's okay, I've got you,” he said sotto voce.

Clinging to her mate, her eyes were fixed on Rodney. His face was bloodless, his eyes wide with fright and regret. She could only imagine what must be going through his mind. Much as it sucked that both she and Ioan were infected, at least she had her mate by her side. John was somewhere on the other side of Atlantis, and there was nothing either man could do for the other.

Seconds passed, filled with Rodney's desperate attempts to get his last thoughts out. Ford interrupted him. “How are you feeling, doc?”

Rodney met Kimberly's eyes, looking dumbfounded as he turned to Ford. “I... I feel... I'm fine? I feel fine.”

How was that possible? Ioan's hand clamped down on her arm, and when she looked up at him, she saw the same question in his eyes. Carson cleared his throat. “Rodney,” he said quietly. “Don't take this the wrong way, but... why are you still alive?”

While Rodney and a few of the others went back and forth, Kimberly's mind was racing and things started to slot into place. She was almost sure of the answer. Stepping forward, she spoke quietly, but her words seemed to cut through the chatter anyway. “I think I know why.”

Everyone's attention was suddenly all on her. Swallowing hard, she glanced at Ioan who gave her a reassuring nod. Turning back to Rodney and Carson, she continued. “It has to be because of the ATA gene. Johnson, Wagner, Dumais, Hayes... none of them had the gene. Rodney has it. That has to be why he's still alive. I don't know how, but it is the only explanation I can think of.”

A discussion broke out even as her own symptoms grew worse. She clung to Ioan's hand, praying for all she was worth that she was right so that they both could live. Minutes ticked by and she let out a breathy laugh as she hugged her mate. They both should have died by now and they were still here. Ioan dipped his head and kissed her hard, uncaring of their audience. Kimberly was all for that plan.

They were alive!

Ford was hounding Carson, demanding he be given the therapy, which struck her as odd. Everyone had received it after all, and if he didn't have the ATA gene, that meant the therapy hadn't taken and there was nothing more to do. It took them all a while to realize that the people that had run into either Rodney, Ioan, or herself, were still here, and that the visions of ghosts had stopped.

Carson subjected them all to more tests, and while he was doing that, Kimberly, Rodney, and Radek went back to combing through the database. They only found enough information to confirm Kimberly's hypothesis, and to set Carson's mind at ease. The nanites lost their potency the further they were spread, and they had already run their course. The rest of the city was safe, and the remaining group that had been infected were no longer contagious.

After Carson gave them the all clear and Elizabeth gave the green light to return to the city, Rodney smiled and with a sigh, pointed to the transporter. “Come on, let's go home.”

Yes, home sounded good right now, she thought. With one more kiss to her mate's lips, she silently promised herself that they would complete their bond at the earliest opportunity come hell or high water. Life was too short for anything else, in her opinion, and from the look in Ioan's eyes, he agreed.

*~*~*~*~*

“You’re an idiot,” Rodney murmured, shaking his head at John who had just walked into his quarters. “If you hadn’t gone haring after Peterson-” Really, if John had left well enough alone, Grodin would’ve been able to corner Peterson earlier and none of the others in the city proper would have become infected with the nanites. Thankfully no one else had died, but people had gotten injured because of John’s interference.

John’s gaze flitted away briefly as he sighed, fingers raking through his hair in frustration. “I know, I know, alright. Elizabeth already read me the riot act, but really, what did you expect me to do?”

Crossing his arms, Rodney narrowed his eyes. “I expect you – the military commander – to set a good example for your men and to follow established protocol! Really, John, what were you thinking?”

Stepping closer, John sighed again, pulling Rodney into his arms. “I was thinking,” he said softly, “that my soulmate was injured. I could _feel_ whatever it was that was going on with you, Rodney. Here,” he added, tapping the area on his head where the sensations had been concentrated.

Rodney gaped, fingers brushing against John’s. “You realize we really are going to have to run tests, right? To figure this thing out? If we’d been in the field again...”

“Right. Yeah.” John frowned, blowing out a breath, looking slightly guilty.

Rolling his eyes, Rodney groused, “Oh, stop that. Let’s try to keep the guilt trips to only one of us at a time, okay? And I’m still on my turn.”

That brought an amused grunt from John’s lips. “Yeah, okay Rodney.”

 


	23. Chapter 23

It had been a couple of weeks since their team had gone off-world and John was getting anxious to get out there again. Nothing against the rest of the teams under his command but he preferred being hands on. Still, the stand down had been worth it. Rodney seemed to be doing better and was having fewer nightmares since starting his sessions with Kate, and things between them were solid. John couldn't remember ever feeling this... safe and secure in a relationship, but he relished it now. Rodney seemed to, as well.

After the nanite debacle, Rodney and his minions had set about securing that part of the city and scouring the database for any more surprises along that vein. They had done some more exploring of the city together, too, and John marveled at everything they had come across. It had mostly been labs of various kinds that Rodney had allocated several of his minions to research.

On the whole, life was pretty great. The Athosians had settled back in after the storm, recouping some of the losses of their crop already. The away teams had had a few run ins with the Wraith but they hadn't lost any men, so John counted that a win. They'd even managed to gain another trading partner and a couple of potential Alpha sites that needed further investigating. So when Elizabeth suggested that their team get back in the saddle again, John was more than happy to oblige.

Which was how they found themselves in a jumper being chased by darts almost as soon as they got through the gate. There were too many of them to fight off, and they'd been hit seconds after coming through. It must have damaged something, because try as he might, John couldn't get the weapons to work. Pushing aside the knot of worry that was mostly Rodney, John focused on getting them the hell out of range, but to little avail.

“McKay?” John prodded his mate. If they were to make it out of this with their skin intact, he would need a little help.

“I'm on it,” Rodney said, already getting out of his seat.

Teyla leaned forward. “Where did they come from?”

Rodney called back, “She's right. Darts are short range fighters. There's probably a Hive ship around here somewhere.”

“Then we need to get out of here,” Teyla urged.

“Yes, we do,” John agreed. Checking his HUD, he grimaced.

Ford shook his head. “The stargate is the other way, sir, on the other side of the planet.”

Yes, thank you captain obvious, John thought. “Yeah, we're taking the scenic route. McKay?!”

“I'm almost there.” A pause, which was filled with Ford once again stating the obvious by telling John about the darts on their tail, then Rodney called, “Okay, you should have weapons now.”

John frowned as he attempted to fire. Nothing. “Negative.”

“You sure?”

Rolling his eyes, John snapped, “Positive!” Of course he was sure. Why the hell would Rodney think he would lie about something like that at a time like this?

“Because I'm pretty sure I fixed it.”

“Well obviously, you didn't,” John grunted, narrowly avoiding another hit. Crap. This wasn't going well at all. If they didn't reach the gate soon, they would be blown out of the sky. The jumper shook when they took a hit.

“Perhaps we can lose them in the atmosphere of the planet,” Teyla suggested.

“Two more darts on our two o'clock,” Ford pressed.

Taking a deep breath, John nodded. “McKay,” he pleaded. Come on, baby, he thought. Work some of your magic here and help me get us out of here.

“It's not like I'm holding back on you,” Rodney groused.

A sudden burst of energy appeared on the HUD, seeming to follow them. John watched in confusion as it overtook the darts, leaving debris in its wake. “Hold on!” John yelled, hoping against hope they would survive this. The ball of energy swept over them, rocking the jumper but leaving it intact. They all stared in shock as it dissipated. John swallowed hard. That had been far too close for comfort to his liking.

“What the hell was that?” Ford asked, sounding as stunned as John felt.

“Some sort of... energy weapon,” Rodney stammered, staggering back to his seat.

“How about we find out?” John suggested, already adjusting course toward the planet. He managed to find a place near to the one village that would make it easy enough to walk to it but made sure the jumper was out of sight in case the people of this world were less than friendly.

None of the readings he was getting from the HUD indicated any weapons or any technology at all, but John had learned that looks could be deceiving. Ford scoffed as he peered through his binoculars, muttering about this being a waste of time as he wasn't picking up any hints of tech, either.

“You picking up anything, Rodney?”

Rodney huffed. “I'm picking up everything, just nothing worth mentioning.”

“Teyla? Do these people look familiar to you?” he asked automatically.

She shot him an amused look as she reminded him that the planet had a spacegate and that her people therefore never would have been able to visit here. John bit his lips, feeling his cheeks heat. “Right,” he mumbled. He'd known that. Of course he had.

Rolling his eyes, John ignored the lieutenant's continued grouching and headed toward the village. As soon as they were within sight, he plastered on his most 'hey-I'm-friendly-and-harmless' smile and was shocked when the first person to see him actually bolted off with a look of fear in his eyes. Well, that couldn't be good. They were soon met by what seemed to be the leader of the village, which turned out to be Zara, an abbot of Proculus, which was apparently the name of this planet.

Well, he seemed friendly enough, John supposed as they sat down to talk. The man appeared genuinely surprised to find they had come from another world and that they had been saved by a weapon originating from his planet. When the abbot mentioned never having heard of the Wraith, John stared at Teyla who looked elated.

As soon as the abbot excused himself, she leaned forward and whispered, “I have never known a world not ravaged by the Wraith. If this is true, then this planet would make a wonderful sanctuary for many people.”

John couldn't agree more. As far as Alpha sites went, Proculus sounded like an ideal spot if the Wraith truly could not get to it. The abbot returned shortly and promised to take them to meet Chaya, their head priestess, so they could discuss their situation. The walk to Chaya's residence was long and Rodney bitched the entire way, but John simply tuned him out. There was a feeling of peace here that seemed to wash over him and he knew that Rodney was mostly just spouting his usual bluster.

Just before they entered the monastery, John reminded Rodney to be on his best behavior. He knew the man had become better at curbing his tongue, but when there was a ZPM involved, Rodney still tended to speak before thinking, and John really wanted to try to make some sort of arrangement happen.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

There was something very _off_ about this place, Rodney decided. Everyone was too happy and oblivious, and he was not at all sure whether they were for real or not. He was certain the energy ball that had saved them had come from a weapon on this planet, but the abbot seemed completely ignorant of anything. If there was one thing Rodney hated, it was _not_ knowing something. The only thing worse was someone not _wanting_ to know. And he really wanted to know.

The second they stepped inside the monastery, the hairs on the back of his neck wanted to stand up. The feeling only got worse when a beautifully exotic woman – even more so than Teyla, and in his book that was saying something – walked up to them and took John's hand in both of hers. Rodney didn't even hear her words, too distracted by the suddenly stunted sensation that was his soul bond with John. What the hell was that all about?

“You must be tired after your long journey, shall I make us some tea?” the woman – Chaya, he dug up from the recesses of his mind – asked, her eyes focused intently on his major. Rodney didn't like it one bit, but of course, John just grinned and said, “I was hoping you would say _just_ that.” Of course he did. Rodney crossed his arms, scowling at them. Something wasn't _right_.

As they sat around a fire, sipping their tea, they talked of the Wraith. By all appearances, Chaya seemed truly puzzled and horrified by their existence, but something was setting Rodney's alarm bells off. He just couldn't put his finger on what. It was annoying the crap out of him. Like it was something he _should_ know, that was just out of his reach if only he could get a little closer. Another thing that bothered him was that she _still_ seemed to insist there were no weapons on Proculus.

When Rodney tried to argue with her, John shot him a disapproving look and told him off. “Best. Behavior, Rodney,” he reminded him.

Rodney blinked in shock. John had never talked to him quite like that before, not even when Rodney had caused them to get shot at. “This is as good as it gets, Major,” he retorted, slightly hurt by John's reaction. Not to mention, he hated being lied to and he was one hundred percent certain Chaya was lying through her teeth.

John ignored him – _ignored him!_ – and began to plead their case with Chaya, which of course would lead nowhere, Rodney was sure. When she excused herself to 'talk with Athar', Rodney rolled his eyes and scoffed. “So, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, huh?”

He glared at John who seemed the picture of ease as he laid back on the bench Chaya had been sitting on. “Exactly,” the man replied, closing his eyes. Grumbling, Rodney sat back down to wait, eyeing John worriedly. The longer they were in this place, the worse that stunted feeling seemed to get and he didn't care for it at all. He had no idea what had caused it or how to fix it, or even if it was just something he was experiencing or if John felt it, too. He supposed he could have asked his mate, but a tiny voice in the back of his mind warned him now was not the time.

What felt like hours later, Chaya and the abbots returned. John jumped to his feet – a little too eagerly in Rodney's opinion – and looked hopefully at her. She inclined her head. “We have conveyed your request to our divine mother, and although she does not doubt the righteousness of your mission, I'm afraid she cannot countenance any other people but hers settling here.”

John looked devastated. Rodney, who had remained seated, sighed and shook his head, feeling disgusted. “And you really had to chant all this time to come up with that?”

“McKay,” John ground out, glowering at him like it was all his fault.

Teyla got to her feet, pleading. “Is there any way to have Athar reconsider?”

Chaya turned to her, shaking her head. “Athar understands and sympathizes. The Wraith are a scourge among our stars, but she _has_ to place the lives of her people first.”

Standing up, Rodney scowled, wishing he could figure out what the hell was really going on. “Well, I think we both knew what you were going to say long before you went in there.”

She looked away, unable to meet his eyes which just cinched the deal for him. “We prayed for Athar's guidance,” she said quietly.

“And what did Athar say?” Rodney retorted, tired of playing this game. Why were they wasting their time with this insanity? “You're hiding behind your religion to justify your complete and utter selfishness,” he accused.

“Rodney!” John exclaimed angrily.

He pressed on, in part because he knew he was right and also because that bundle of sensation that was John had just dimmed to nearly non-existent, and it scared the crap out of Rodney. “ _If_ Athar existed she would be ashamed of herself.” And that was a big 'if', if you asked him. How could any people be so selfish when people throughout this galaxy were being hunted by the Wraith?

Zara bristled. “We ask only to be left alone and in peace.”

Rodney squared his shoulders. Oh, how it galled him that they were hiding behind their so-called deity. And people thought _him_ selfish? “So untold thousands, possibly even millions of people will die out there when they could have been saved, all in the name of Athar. How very, very peaceful of you,” he said, making no attempt to hide his scorn.

“You should be grateful to Athar,” Chaya chided, her voice breaking. She still wasn't looking at him. Ashamed, no doubt, as well she should be!

Taking a deep breath, Rodney said, “This is a waste of time.” They could be out there trying to find the weapon or go visit another planet or something. These people wouldn't help them no matter what they did to try to convince them otherwise. He shifted his shoulders uneasily, trying to shake that dulling sensation. The quicker they were out of here, the better.

“Athar regrets that she cannot help you,” she murmured to John.

Rodney rolled his eyes. “And I'm sure those were her _exact_ words to you.”

John rounded on Rodney, glaring daggers at him. “That's _enough!”_ he barked.

Rodney gaped. He had _never_ seen John like this before. Ever. What was happening here? Why was he behaving like this and _why_ was the soul bond feeling like it was fading?

“Head back to the jumper,” John ordered, sending Ford to make sure Rodney did as told. Rodney felt sick as they walked to the jumper, his mind racing as he tried to make sense of everything and getting nowhere fast.

~*~*~*~*~*~

“Carson! I'd like you to meet Chaya,” John said jovially. “She’s visiting us for a while.”

Carson looked up from his computer and blinked. “What's this then?” he asked as he got to his feet. He glanced at John, wondering about how eager he seemed as he introduced them. “Chaya, it's a pleasure to meet you, lass.”

John turned to her and grinned. “Carson's going to see to your tests. You'll be in great hands. Won't she, Carson?”

Amused, if slightly puzzled, Carson smiled warmly at her. “Aye, of course. If you'll come right over here, lass, we'll get you started. Mac'll take care of John while we're at it.”

Mac, hearing his name, turned his head. “John, why don't you have a seat over there,” he said, jerking his head to an empty bed. “I'll be with you in just a minute.”

John seemed reluctant to leave Chaya's side. Carson wondered what that was about. And where was Rodney anyway? He and the rest of their team would need to go through their own tests, too. Putting a gentle hand on Chaya's elbow, Carson guided her over to a bed on the other side of the infirmary and pulled a curtain around it for privacy. “Right. Here we are then.”

He explained briefly what would be happening, and when she consented to the various tests, Carson set to work, keeping up a steady conversation as he did. When she told him of her planet and her being a priestess, Carson couldn’t help wondering why she was here. She’d made it obvious her people would not help them.

“When John told me of your city, I was curious,” Chaya explained, “He offered to show me around. I’ve never been away from my people before.”

He nodded absently as he carefully noted all her stats, took her blood, and then had her go through an MRI. They had to do this twice as the first time he tried to run the scan, she moved around too much. “Now, lass, I need you to lay very still for a bit or this won't work,” he scolded gently as he reset the MRI and ran it again.

“Just a minute more,” he assured her, scanning the readouts with a slight frown. Well, this was odd. Her scan was showing none of the things it usually picked up with humans. “Well my dear, it seems you're just as lovely on the inside as you are on the outside.” As odd as that was. He smiled warmly at her. “If health is synonymous with beauty...” Chaya began to sit up, looking curiously around her. “You can get up now,” Carson assured.

“How does this device do what you say it does?”

“It creates images of the tissues inside your body,” he explained, glancing down at the screen. “And they are picture perfect.” He had to school his expression to hide his concern. He had never before seen anyone have results like this, it was unheard of.

“Did you bring these machines back from your world?” She gazed at him with such intent it made Carson feel slightly uncomfortable.

“Some,” he acknowledged, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “Others are Lantean technology that we're learning to use, and a few I haven't the vaguest idea of what they do,” he confessed, earning him a secretive smile. He wondered what that was about. He had the funny feeling there was more to this lass than met the eye. “Hopefully one day I'll meet an Ancient and ask them myself.”

They talked for a while about the Ancients, which she seemed very curious about. Even while they were talking, he was trying to figure out what her scans meant. “Are all the people of your world as healthy as you?” he asked suddenly.

“Yes,” she acknowledged.

Frowning, he shook his head. “No disease? Ailments? No one ever breaks a leg?”

“Such things are rare, but my people heal quite rapidly.” Carson blinked at her in astonishment.

Just then, John popped his head around the corner, looking almost shy and hopeful. “Are we done?”

Chaya turned to Carson. “Are we?”

Carson grinned. “Healthiest patient I've ever had. Off you go, love.” She hopped off the table and all but skipped over to John. Carson shook his head in amazement when John held out his arm to her and they walked out of the infirmary arm in arm. “Well,” Carson muttered under his breath, “this is new.”

Mac stepped up behind him. “Did John seem... weird, to you?” he asked quietly, his eyes on where the two had left.

Glancing at his colleague, Carson nodded. “Aye, just a wee bit. Did anything show up on the initial tests?”

“No,” Mac hummed. “I was about to start his bloodwork. I'll run hers as well, if you like.”

“Thanks, lad. I'd like to take a closer look at her MRI. Something doesn't seem quite right to me. Hopefully between the two of us, we'll find some answers.”

Clasping a hand on his shoulder, Mac nodded and left to tend to his work.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Bloodwork shows no viral, bacterial, or parasitic infections,” Carson explained as Rodney and Elizabeth stared at Chaya's charts. “MRI reveals no tumors or cancers. No heart defects of any kind. Blood pressure one-thirty over seventy.” Carson glanced sideways at them. “Total cholesterol, one-oh-seven. She's in perfect health.”

Rodney scowled at the screen. Everything Carson was saying just added to his suspicions. Chaya was bad news, not that he was any closer to understanding why or how. Elizabeth tilted her head in confusion. “I'm... happy for her? But why did we need to see this?”

Carson raised an eyebrow at her. “Because, Doctor, she's _too_ healthy.”

Wait, what? “What does that mean?” Rodney asked, confused.

“There's no trace of any diseases or congenital conditions that you typically find in pre-technological societies.”

Rodney's mind started racing as Carson continued to explain. “But she _is_ human?”

Carson nodded. “Aye.”

Crossing his arms tight around his chest, Rodney glared at the screen again. Okay, so human. That was no help. Damnit all, there had to be a reason why he was so convinced there was something wrong with the woman, if only he could figure out what! Elizabeth left without him being aware of it. Not until Carson put a hand on his shoulder did Rodney become aware of it. “Are you alright, lad?”

“No,” he blurted before he could think better of it. “I'm not.”

He let Carson guide him to his office and into a chair while the man leaned against his desk. “What's going on, Rodney?”

Scrubbing his face, he sighed. “I wish I knew, Carson. All I know for sure is that something is... blocking the bond with John. It's been feeling stunted ever since we met Chaya and I have no idea why. John's been acting strange, too, and won't listen to me. Hell, he's acting like he doesn't know me anymore. At least, not the way he does if that makes sense,” he babbled.

"Wait. Your bond feels stunted?” Carson asked, straightening up.

“That's what I said, isn't it?” Rodney groused, frowning up at his friend as he walked around his desk.

Carson tapped his comms. “Mac? Could you do me a favor and run a DNA test on Major Sheppard? On Rodney, too.” He paused, listening. “Aye, need it done stat, if you would. And make sure to give the results only to me, don't tell anyone you're running them.”

Tilting his head, Rodney thought for a moment. It made sense to run the tests again, since that had been how they had discovered the gene to begin with. “You'll let me know if you find anything?” he asked quietly. He wasn't sure whether he wanted Mac to find something wrong with their bond or not.

Carson nodded, smiling reassuringly. “Of course, lad. The minute we have anything, I promise.”

Rubbing his hands on his thighs, Rodney sighed. “Thanks, Carson.”

“Rodney? If you have a moment, I'd like you to see something, please,” Peter called over the radio.

“I'm on my way.” He tapped his comms and got to his feet.

Before he had gotten to the door, Carson said quietly, “We'll figure this out, lad. Don't you worry.”

Rodney really hoped his friend was right because he was starting to feel a little lost, and that wasn't an experience he enjoyed. When he got to the control room, Rodney got a little of his bounce back. “You got it working?” he asked Peter who was hunched over the console they had found in another part of the city. “What is it?”

Peter glanced up, indicating the console. “It appears to be some sort of internal/external biometric sensor array.”

Rodney chuffed. “See now, sadly, I understood that. Where did all those Saturday nights go?” he said sarcastically.

Rolling his eyes, Peter pointed at his screen. “These seem to be the biosignatures of everyone on Atlantis.”

Huh. He frowned, tilting his head as he tried to follow the readings. “How can you tell?” Seriously, why did the Ancients have to use so much gibberish and superfluous code? What was the point? It wasn't even pretty code, either. “I can't make heads or tails of that mess.”

Peter chuckled, nodding agreement. “I've been working on deciphering the Ancient algorithms. I suspect that this was designed primarily as an early warning system.”

As Peter continued to expand on his findings, one thing caught his attention. “Wait, hold up. You said this thing turned on after our visitor touched it?” Too healthy? And now this? That couldn't be a coincidence.

Peter shrugged. “Which must mean she has the Ancient gene.”

That's one hypothesis, Rodney thought. But no, that didn't feel right. And how incredibly irksome was this whole working on a 'feeling' thing? He was a man of science, damnit, not emotion, but it was all he had to go on for the time being. “Or it was initialized already and only activated because it was detecting her.”

Peter shot him an incredulous look. Rodney didn't care if he sounded paranoid. His gut told him he was right and if there was one thing he was learning from his major, it was to listen to his gut. “She could be some kind of alien and this thing knows more about her than we've been able to decypher,” he pressed on. Straightening, he stared straight ahead. “Someone should be keeping an eye on her,” he mused.

“Oh, Major Sheppard is,” Peter assured him calmly.

Rodney rolled his eyes. “Of course he is.” John was _his_ , dammit, and for all that they were soulmates, he seemed to be falling all over this woman. It was almost as if he was trying to play Kirk, which really annoyed him.

Peter huffed, casting a sly look his way. “Not entirely for the reasons you think. Dr. Weir asked him to.”

“I'm sure she has,” Rodney said dryly. Anything to try to sweet talk the natives, she would do, as far as Rodney could tell. Well, anything short of becoming an arms dealer, which she had already proven resistant to. But he wouldn't put it past her to whore someone out. Rodney flushed slightly, embarrassed that the thought had even crossed his mind. He knew he was just being bitter and was taking out his anxiety on her, even if only in his head. He knew Elizabeth would never ask anyone to do anything untoward just to further the mission.

Annoyed, he walked off, running various scenarios through his head as he went in search of Elizabeth. Maybe he could convince her to send Chaya back to Proculus. He didn't dare radio her, not wanting to risk anyone overhearing – and by anyone, he meant John.

He ran into Teyla who gave him a peculiar look which immediately made his stomach turn. He had no idea what she was about to say, but everything in him told him he really didn't want to hear it. Still, she was his friend, so he stopped to talk to her.

“Dr. McKay,” she said sympathetically, placing her hand on his arm. “Have you seen Major Sheppard recently?”

He squirmed. He had glimpsed him a couple of times as John gave Chaya the grand tour of Atlantis, but it had felt as if the man was actively avoiding running into him and that hurt. So he did what he did best and tried to push the pain aside. Opening his mouth to answer, his throat became too dry to speak when Teyla mentioned seeing him carrying a picnic basket. “He said something about being an ambassador and having a diplomatic picnic with Chaya out on the pier.”

Rodney's heart skipped a couple of beats, his chest tightening as he rasped, “When?”

Teyla tilted her head, watching him closely. “About half an hour ago.”

Mental images of John and Chaya played out in his mind's eye faster than he could keep up, which was a blessing. He tried to touch on the soul bond but where it used to be, there now was emptiness. “Thanks,” he managed, pushing past her in his hurry to find Elizabeth. He had to convince her, had to make her see.

When he finally located her, Rodney was disappointed to find her unwilling to see his view of things. She was outright dismissive of his concerns, even going so far as to suggest he was having a breakdown of some sort and he was imagining the soul bond being gone. After all, the Ancient database had said that a bond was for life and the Ancients surely could not be wrong. It was an attitude he had come across among his minions and it was one that he abhorred. After all the fiascos they had already faced, he no longer held those dratted ascended assholes up on the pedestal most people did. After a lot of talking – okay, maybe it had more been him having a bitchfest of near-epic proportions – she finally relented to at least let him sit in on their next meeting so he could monitor her. He fervently hoped that he would get something out of that, because he had the distinct impression that if he messed up this time, he would be in for it with Elizabeth. And no doubt John would have a thing or two to say about it, too.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Biting his lip, John replayed the last few moments over and over as he headed toward the transporter. He had kissed Chaya and it had been amazing. It had been a little weird at first because he couldn't stop thinking about the fact she was an alien, but once they started... it had felt so right. Hadn't it? Frowning, he pushed aside the tiny voice that wanted to argue and that sounded suspiciously like McKay.

Speaking of McKay, John thought as the man called after him. John stopped and turned around, feigning innocence. “Hello, Rodney. What are you doing up so late?” Why was he suddenly feeling guilty? He had done nothing wrong, he was a grown ass major, after all.

Rodney frowned, glancing over his shoulder to where John had just come from before looking at him again. “I was just, ummm,” he paused, a flash of hurt in his eyes as he changed tact. “I couldn't sleep so I was just on my way to the control room to do a little, err, research. How about you?” he tacked on sarcastically.

John bristled, but played dumb. “No thanks.”

Crossing his arms, Rodney tilted his head. “No, I meant, what are _you_ doing up this late?”

“I'm always up this late, Rodney,” he rebuked, not sure why he was having to explain himself to the scientist.

Shifting so his arms were clasped behind his back, Rodney seemed to steel himself. “Word of caution? The whole Captain Kirk routine is problematic, to say the least.” Was that _jealousy_ in the man's voice? John's eyes tightened, trying to make sense of things, which was a lot harder than it should have been, if he were completely honest with himself.

“What 'Kirk' routine?” John asked harshly, getting his back up.

Rodney jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “The whole 'romancing the alien priestess' thing? It's very nineteen sixty seven of you,” he said scathingly. “Actually, I'm surprised that you-”

John cut him off. “ _If_ and when anything I do becomes your business-” What the hell was McKay's problem? And where did he get off trying to dress John down like this?

“It becomes my business,” Rodney said, his voice hard and his expression closed. “When an alien woman who clearly is not who she claims to be has the ranking military officer wrapped around her little finger!”

John glared at the man. “Don't go there, McKay,” he warned. He wasn't entirely sure why he was suddenly as pissed off as he was, other than the scientist seemed to be pushing all his buttons just in that moment. That, and that completely random feeling of guilt that he couldn't place set him on edge. And there was the whole accusing his Chaya of basically being evil incarnate, if McKay's words and demeanor were anything to go by.

Rodney looked away, blinking furiously. His voice broke when he met John's gaze again. “I'm sorry. I know I'm not normally Mr. Sensitive, but you have got to believe me when I say there is something seriously _wrong_ with that woman. I know it's intangible, but I can feel it-”

John stepped into McKay's space, looming over him as he snapped, “I said, don't. _Go._ _There.”_

Rodney took a shaky breath, stubbornly pressing on. “It's just a matter of time before-” he stopped and both men looked up when the door behind Rodney opened and Chaya stepped out. She took one look at them before turning around and heading back with an unreadable expression on her face.

John glowered at McKay, showing him the contempt he felt for his accusations. The other man opened his mouth to plead his case again, but John stalked away, feeling disgusted. Though the further he got, the more confused the jumble of emotions inside of him became. Maybe a run would help clear his head, he thought as he set off toward his favorite path.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Rodney only half paid attention to the farce that was the negotiation meeting with Chaya. What little he could tell, things were going as badly as he had expected them to, so he focused most of his attention on the tests he was running and growing more irritated by the second. Chaya's suddenly calling him out on what he was doing startled him enough that he admitted he was getting nothing useful.

John was irate, glaring daggers at Rodney which he could have sworn he actually felt pierce his heart. Meanwhile, Elizabeth was apologizing profusely. It all became too much for Rodney and he stood, shoving his chair back in disgust. “Oh stop apologizing, Elizabeth,” he snapped. When all eyes were on him, he challenged, “How did she know?”

“McKay!”

Sadness washed over Rodney as he looked at his mate. It was almost as if he were someone else entirely, someone he didn't know anymore and that hurt. More than he'd ever willingly let on. “She's an Ancient,” he said quietly, turning to Chaya again. “I'm right, aren't I? The perfect health, the energy weapon, the fact that she has the Ancient gene,” and God knew what else, Rodney added silently. “It's the only logical explanation.”

“What the _hell_ are you talking about?” John asked, sounding confused.

Rodney ignored him, his focus completely on Chaya. “I just don't understand the act. I mean, you must know that we would give anything to talk to you, to learn from you. I mean, what is it? Were you just checking us out?”

The sudden look of guilt on Chaya's face made Rodney's stomach turn. Had _she_ done something to interfere with his bond with John? His knees buckled when Chaya told John that she had come to the city for him, and he sat heavily back in his chair. His head was buzzing as he listened to her explanation of why she had come here. How could she possibly have done anything to their bond? How was that even possible? That had to be it, though, right? What else could explain the sudden change? But it had to be more than that. More than merely tinkering with the bond because John had genuinely appeared unaware of their relationship.

Before he could voice any of his concerns or theories, however, Chaya walked out of the room, John hot on her heels. It took Rodney a few precious seconds to recover from the shock of seeing him so eagerly give chase after that woman, and when he finally caught up to them, it was only just in time to see Chaya turn into a glowy being and disappear through the gate.

John ran towards the hanger, heedless of the fact that both Rodney and Elizabeth called after him to stop. He tried to go after him but Carson caught his arm and he turned in surprise. “Carson, what-?”

“Lad, you need to see this for yourself,” Carson urged quietly, shoving a laptop into his hands. The non-networked laptop he had given the man, Rodney thought idly as he powered it on. Scanning the information on the screen, Rodney nearly dropped the computer, his body suddenly feeling numb with shock. He had been right. Chaya _had_ done something to their bond. The markers that had shown their soul bond were no longer the same. Instead, John now shared a marker with someone else.

Chaya.

Rodney looked up at the sound of the gate activating and the jumper lowering itself for take off. Shoving the laptop back at Carson, he hurried to the balcony, tapping his comms. “John! You can't go! John! Please!”

He watched in horror as the jumper slipped through the event horizon without so much as a word from John. “John, please don't leave me,” he whispered hoarsely as he watched the gate wink out.

 


	24. Chapter 24

John woke slowly, feeling disoriented as he stared up at the ceiling of the infirmary. The last thirty hours or so were a bit of a haze but when he tried to concentrate on what had happened, it left him feeling sick to his stomach, and heart-hurt. He vaguely remembered meeting Chaya, and showing her around the city. Talking with her. Kissing her. That last was the most distressing for him because _how_ could that have happened? How was it possible for him to not remember being bonded to Rodney? To have all the feelings for Rodney basically be transferred to Chaya? How could he have hurt the one person who mattered most to him so much? Betray him the way he had? It wasn't _in_ him to cheat. It rankled him on a level so deep that he wasn't sure whether he could ever forgive himself for what happened.

Running a hand over his mouth, he thought that it would serve him right if Rodney never forgave him for it. He should have known something was wrong. He should have listened to the man. Hadn't Rodney tried to tell him again and again that something was amiss? And he had dismissed him, gotten angry with him. God, but he was an idiot. Especially when he decided to chase after the woman even after it had been proven Rodney had been right. Of course, he hadn't heard _all_ the evidence yet at the time. Yet he clearly recalled Rodney radioing him, pleading with him not to go after her. Not to leave _him_.

John had no real idea how he had even made it back to Atlantis, truth be told. The last thing he remembered at all was going through the gate and engaging the Wraith. Chaya coming to him in the jumper and telling him to leave. Him landing and searching for her. Finding her in the monastery and then... just bright light enveloping him. The next thing he knew, he'd woken up here. He turned his head, ready to call for Carson or Mac, only to see Rodney sitting by the bed, asleep. John's heart ached at the sight of the man, his eyes stinging with the remorse he felt. “Rodney?” he called softly, his voice breaking.

Rodney jerked awake, instantly alert. “John! You're awake. Finally. We were so worried.” He looked as if he wanted to reach out, but wasn't sure whether he would be welcomed, which only made John feel worse.

“I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry, Rodney. I never meant-” John's throat tightened and he couldn't speak anymore. Instead, he held out his hand, half invitation, half begging. The relief he felt when Rodney climbed into bed with him overwhelmed him. Burrowing his face into the other man's neck, he clung tight, afraid that if he let go, he would lose him. He kept whispering, “I'm sorry,” over and over again.

Rodney remained quiet, holding him, stroking his back, soothing him like nothing else could. John knew he didn't deserve it, but he was grateful for it. After several minutes, John calmed down enough to pull away slightly, eyes searching Rodney's as he murmured, “What happened? Do you know?”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Rodney glanced away briefly. This was much harder than he thought it would be. After all, _he_ knew the reason for the bond's breaking. For John's return. He knew in his head that none of it had been John's fault and part of him was overjoyed to have him in his arms again. Yet another part was still reeling. Still afraid that this wouldn't last, no matter what anyone told him. Part of him wasn't sure he wanted to or even _could_ forgive the other man for Chaya.

But John didn't know everything, so he cleared his throat and met John's gaze. The guilt and pain he saw reflected at him nearly broke Rodney all over again. “Yes, John. I know.” Well, he sort of did. There were still a few spots that weren't entirely clear.

“Please, Rodney. I need to know. Tell me?” John's voice was barely audible, and Rodney could tell his mate was afraid of what was coming. That struck him because John was never afraid. Not really. Except now, he was.

Licking his lips, Rodney took John's hand and entwined their fingers as he began to explain, starting from the beginning. John didn't speak a word, just lay listening to it all. Anguish, hurt, anger all played across his face. When he got to the part of John leaving the city, he paused, needing to push aside the stab of pain he felt as he relived it.

“I'm so sorry, Rodney,” John started again, but Rodney pressed a fingers against his lips to silence him.

“I know.” Clearing his throat again, he closed his eyes a moment before taking up the story where he had left off. “Carson had just shown me the results of the DNA tests he had retaken. John, I don't know how she did it, or even really why, but she changed you. She changed your soul bond so it matched hers, breaking ours in the process.”

John shook as if he'd been hit, his eyes wide as they frantically searched his. “Is it-? Did she-?”

Cupping John's cheek, Rodney tried to smile reassuringly at him, but he wasn't sure how successful he was. “Shh. Let me finish, please? I'll get back to that in a minute, okay?”

John frowned, nodding.

Taking a deep breath, Rodney murmured, “Thanks. Okay, so Carson had just shown the results to me and I tried to stop you from going after Chaya but you weren't listening to me. You just left without a word. We tried opening the gate again to hail you, but there was no reply. Elizabeth had Evan's team get ready to go after you, retrieve you if possible but before they could gate out, we had an incoming wormhole. There was no IDC, no communication, nothing. There was a bit of a panic because the shield wouldn't activate, so several of your men scrambled into defensive positions while I tried to get the shield to work again.”

Rodney scowled, still not liking the fact they had been so vulnerable. Radek had already run diagnostics and found nothing wrong with the system, which somehow made it worse.

“So who was it?” John prompted, looking concerned.

“Oh. You, actually. The jumper came through and docked on its own. When we went to meet it, we found you inside, unconscious. Mac and his team got you up here and he and Carson have been running a battery of tests since.”

“Me?” John looked confused. “How could I have flown the ship? The last thing I remember is bright white lights swirling all around me, and then waking up here. I have no clue what happened between me leaving Atlantis and now.”

Rodney looked away briefly. “You didn't fly the jumper back, John. We did find you in it, but you were laid out in the back compartment. _No one_ flew it.”

John sat up suddenly, eyes wide and mouth agape. “What?! How is that possible?”

Rodney sat up as well and shrugged. “I don't know, John. We tried to go to Proculus to get some answers, but the gate will no longer lock on the address.”

Pulling up a leg, John rested his elbow on his knee, hand lodged in his hair as he thought. “I really don't remember anything after leaving here beyond the whole white light thing,” he murmured. Glancing at Rodney, he added in an even quieter voice, “Our bond?”

Rodney thought for a minute. “Carson and Mac have run our DNA again, twice just to make sure. Whatever happened to you on Proculus, it seems to have fixed our bond.”

John watched him carefully. “And what about us?” He looked almost afraid of the answer.

Rodney glanced down at his hands, not quite able to meet his eyes. “I know it wasn't your fault. I know that. Whatever Chaya did to mess with our bond, she also tampered with your memories. Carson found evidence of it in a brain scan he did, and compared to one you had done a while back after you were injured on a mission.”

“But?” John prodded hesitantly.

Raising his eyes, he half-shrugged. “But it hurt, John. It really, really hurt and... this soul bond thing apparently isn't the guarantee we were made to believe it to be.” He didn't know if he would be able to get past it all. He had never had anything like this thing he had with John before in his life, and he had opened himself to the other man like he never had before. He was afraid to let himself be that vulnerable again but at the same time, he ached for what they had had before Chaya.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Dr. Weir,” Evan said, his eyes locked on the ancient, gray-haired woman in the stasis pod. “There's something down here you need to see. Drs. McKay and Beckett, too.”

“What is it, Major?” Elizabeth asked, sounding distracted.

“Ma'am, I _think_ I found an Ancient,” he said cautiously.

“Beg your pardon?” She sounded more alert now, which made Evan smile a little.

“I said, I think I've found an Ancient. I'm looking at a woman in what appears to be a stasis pod. From what I can tell, she's still alive, but no idea for how much longer. She looks... pretty fragile.”

“Copy that, Major. I'll have them meet us there.”

While Evan and his team waited for the others to arrive, he studied the woman. There was something vaguely familiar about her, but he couldn't quite place it. He had to admit, he was a little freaked out at finding her here. How had they missed her on any of the scans? He shook his head. Rodney could probably explain that to him, and no doubt would even without prompting.

~*~*~*~*~*~

“Carson, she's awake,” John whispered, nudging his friend to get his attention. He'd been allowed out of bed for now, but he hadn't been released from the infirmary yet. He had been amazed when Evan's team had rolled the old woman in and settled her in the back of the room that they could section off.

Carson took her blood pressure and scribbled a few notes on her chart. “How are you feeling, lass?” he asked quietly, shining a light into her eyes before jotting down another note.

“Carson, it's good to see you.” Her voice was reed thin, but also familiar, John thought. She turned her face and looked right at him, smiling. “And you, John. It's been so long.”

Wait? What? John and Carson shared a look of shock, but when they turned back to her, she had fallen asleep again. She woke a couple of times, only a few minutes here and there before succumbing to sleep again, never with enough of a chance to find out any real information. Carson had Mac run her DNA, as the only real thing she had managed was a claim that she was Elizabeth Weir.

Crossing his arms, John frowned down at her. “Can't you do anything about that? It'd be nice to actually have a conversation with the woman.”

Carson huffed. “She's old, Major. What did you expect? According to the logs Rodney found, she's been in that pod for over ten thousand years. I'd like to see how coherent you are after being alive for that long.”

“Fair point, but still.”

Mac walked up to them, handing Carson a tablet. “Here, you'll want to see those for yourself. I even ran the test twice to make sure.” To John, he added, “How are you holding up, by the way? Remember anything yet?”

John's lips thinned as he shook his head. “No. Nothing. And I don't like it at all.”

Mac chuckled. “I'd be surprised if you did, John.”

“I don't believe this,” Carson whispered. He looked up at John. “She really _is_ her. The DNA is a match. No doubt about it at all.”

“Okay, Carson, now you _really_ need to find a way to keep her alert for longer. We need answers while she's still around to give them to us.”

“Now look here, lad, I can't just go and give her a stimulant. The shock might kill her! I'm surprised she made it through being woken the way she did.”

Elizabeth – _their_ Elizabeth – put a hand on Carson's shoulder. None of them had heard her approach. “Carson, it's okay. I heard what you said about the DNA. If she is me, then she can handle it.” She held up a hand to stop the doctor from protesting. “And I _know_ she would want it.” She gave him a pointed look, daring him to argue her point.

With a sigh, he relented and went to get the stimulant. Once he had administered it to her, he warned them that he didn't know how well it would take, given her condition. Rodney showed up a couple of minutes later, just in time for Elizabeth-one – that's what he would call her in his head, John decided – to wake up. Carson fussed over her for a bit, but once he was assured that she was okay, he allowed them to ask her questions.

John smiled fondly as Rodney immediately began spouting questions, his excitement obvious to everyone. “How did you get back there? Tell us everything, from the moment you arrived there to all your interactions with the Ancients. It'd really-”

“Rodney,” Elizabeth said quietly. He paused, blinking at her. She smiled. “Let me talk?”

“Oh, yes. Sorry.” He blushed and stepped back, looking embarrassed.

John stepped closer to him, wanting to hold the man but he settled for grasping his hand instead. He still wasn't entirely sure where they stood, as Rodney had been called away before they could finish their conversation. Rodney shot him a pleased, if surprised look. John really hoped they could work things out and find their way back to where they had been before this whole mess had started. If there had been any way for him to take back what had happened, to keep Rodney from getting hurt, he would have done it in a heartbeat.

“It was an accident,” Elizabeth-one said, her voice still sounded brittle, but she kept talking, only taking short breaks to catch her breath or take a drink. She explained all about how the first time, the city's shields had failed and everyone but Radek, John, and herself had drowned. When she mentioned Rodney sacrificing himself to save them, John's insides turned to ice. Rodney himself seemed shaken by the news, too.

“The ship we were in... it was different from the others. When John tried to take off, something happened. A flash, and then we were under attack. We had no idea who was shooting at us or why. The jumper crashed into the ocean after it got hit and the next thing I remember is waking up here.”

“Now?” Rodney asked, sounding disappointed.

“No, then. A man named Janus saved me, healed me. He explained what had happened. Told me about the Wraith.”

“Yes, yes, we already know about them, in fact-” Rodney started, seemingly unable to help himself.

John leaned in, whispering, “Rodney, not now.”

He looked abashed, mumbling an apology. Elizabeth-one smiled indulgently at him. “I've missed you, Rodney,” which caused him to blush.

“Janus tried to talk to their council, to convince them to help me get back to my own time but they refused. They sanctioned him for having disobeyed their orders by making the time travel device in the first place. Janus and I spent a lot of time together. He was intent on helping us any way he could from ten thousand years in my past. He told me what his plan was, explained how everything worked. How he would keep me safe.”

John smiled softly at her. “Looks like he succeeded.”

“Yes, he did. During our many, many conversations, Janus told me about his people. Their culture. Their history. He was as surprised to learn that we didn't have soulmates as I was to hear the Lanteans did.”

Everyone shifted, curious. John no less so as he listened intently while Elizabeth-one shared everything she had learned. “Janus told me that the soul bond goes above everything. They held it sacred to the point where it was considered the worst of crimes to tamper with a bond, punished most severely as soon as it was found out.”

John cast a pained look at Rodney who was gazing at a point about a foot above Elizabeth-one's head.

“He said that the soul bond was considered a gift of their lineage, which was why he found it curious that they didn't exist for us. He said we were their second evolution, and that therefore the soul bonds should exist.”

“But they do, lass,” interrupted Carson. She blinked up at him. He smiled softly at her, patting her arm. “Sorry, lass, I didn't mean to cut you off. But soul bonds do exist among us, though only those with the ATA gene have them.”

Her face brightened in delight. “So it isn't lost?”

“No, lass, it's not. But please, continue,” Carson urged.

John wondered how much of that was due to Elizabeth-one telling Janus about the non-existent soul bonds among her people. He understood enough about time travel to know that while she shared their Elizabeth's DNA, she was not one of 'them' anymore, that her journey back through time had created an alternate universe. He had a sudden mental image of Janus stepping through the gate back to Earth ten thousand years earlier and going on his merry way, planting his seed among Earth's denizens in order to spread the ATA legacy as far as he could.

Elizabeth-one grasped Elizabeth's hand, an urgent look in her eyes. “Did you find the note? I had a note and a crystal when I went to sleep, did you find it?”

Rodney nodded. “Yes, we did and I wanted to ask you about that,” he started, but Elizabeth-one talked over him.

“They're gate addresses of outposts.” She paused. “They should have fully powered ZPMs in them.”

Rodney bounced on the balls of his feet, turning to John and talking rapidly. “John, we've been to one of them already! We can go there and-”

John grabbed the man's arm in an effort to calm him down. “Easy, Rodney. We will, I promise, but let's hear what else she has to say before we start planning a field trip, okay?”

“Oh, oh! Yes, of course. Sorry.”

Elizabeth-one took a labored breath, her eyes intent on Carson. “The crystal Janus made for you, Carson. He copied _all_ the information on the soul bonds on them. He said he hoped it would prove useful, though at the time I didn't understand. I think I do, now.” She shot John a knowing glance and he thought that maybe she had had a similar idea as he had about Janus if the hint of mischief was any indication. “The histories, the experiments, the research, everything you'll need to know about should be on there. He encrypted it. The last line on the note... it isn't just a gate address, it is the key.”

Rodney apparently couldn't stop himself and immediately launched theories on what they might find, utterly engrossed by the possibility of new discoveries to be made. New information to be had. A surefire lure for him if ever there was one, John thought fondly. While everyone's attention had turned briefly to the over-excited scientist, the machine monitoring Elizabeth-one's heart started beeping in alarm. Carson did his best to revive her, but she was gone.

Elizabeth tenderly took her hand in hers and quietly said goodbye. John placed a hand on her shoulder, murmuring, “I'm sorry, Elizabeth.”

She shook her head, smiling sadly. “Don't be. She did what she intended to do. Now it is up to us to make the best of it.”

John nodded and allowed Rodney to prod him back into his own bed while Mac and Carson prepared Elizabeth-one's body for cremation. Elizabeth said that was what she would want, so they were going with that. It still seemed a little freaky to John and he couldn't imagine what she must be going through, but he admired her for how well she was taking it all.

The two men sat in silence for a moment until the infirmary calmed down again and they were basically alone. John wanted to talk to his mate, but the words wouldn't come. Before John could make up his mind to do anything about it, Rodney spoke softly, his gaze firmly fixed on his clasped hands. “So do you think that the Ancients stepped in? I mean, if what Elizabeth said is true and the Lanteans held a soul bond sacred above all else... I know they have the whole 'do not interfere with the mortal realms' thing going on, but I've heard of them stopping one of their own before.”

John tilted his head, mulling it over. “Possibly. I mean, they can do pretty much whatever they want, right?” he asked quietly.

Rodney nodded, finally meeting his gaze. His eyes flashed with anger and hurt as he bit out, “I hope they punished her for what she did. I hope they _could_. She basically _stole_ you from me, John!”

“I know, baby, and I'm sorry.” He held out his hand, hoping Rodney would let him try to comfort him. He let out a slow breath of relief when Rodney climbed into bed with him and wrapped himself around John, with his head on his shoulder. John kissed the top of Rodney's head, savoring the feel of his mate in his arms again.

Rodney sighed. “I can't think of a single other explanation for what happened with you. I've been going over it again and again in my mind. I'm pretty sure she sensed your gene the minute we arrived on the planet. And I think she began changing you the second she touched you. It was quick, too, and none of us realized. At least not at the time. I don't ever want to feel that again, John,” he confessed.

John wasn't sure what to say. It was obvious to him that he couldn't very well promise it would never happen again because he had had no say whatsoever in it happening this time. If another Ancient decided they wanted to interfere in spite of their rules, there would be nothing John or Rodney could do about it. Still, he hoped it would never happen again, either. “I know,” he whispered. “I don't want you to, either.” And that was the truth.

“The white lights, the shield malfunctioning when it did, the jumper flying itself back into Atlantis. The address being locked. That has to be their doing. Nothing else makes any sense.”

John silently agreed with him. They lay like that for a while longer until eventually they both dozed off. The last thing through John's mind was the fleeting thought that maybe, things between them would work out after all.

 


	25. Chapter 25

Evan wrapped his arms around Mac's shoulders, kissing the top of his mate's head. “Find anything interesting?” he asked quietly, glancing at the screen.

Mac tilted his head back to look at Evan, placing his hand where Evan's crossed. He seemed tired, but there was a light of excitement in his eyes. “Aye. She hadn't been kidding, Ev, when she said Janus put _everything_ they had on soul bonds on this crystal. It'll take us months to sift through it all, and it would have taken us years to find it on our own.”

“You're enjoying all this digging into all that information, aren't you?” Evan asked, smiling fondly at Mac.

He half-turned in his seat, surprise in his eyes. “Of course! Between what Janus left us and what we already knew – or thought we knew – of our species, it's been thrilling to say the least. It's been interesting to see, using the DNA examples we have on file of everyone, both before and after the ATA therapy, how it all fits together. Humans truly are the second evolution of the Lanteans or Alterans or whatever they went by. Or rather, most of us are. They populated much of the galaxy back before they retreated to Pegasus when the plague hit. They had seeded many worlds, mixing their legacy with that of others, which over time caused the ATA gene to get spread too thin. In some cases, it's completely extinct, case in point being those who've received the therapy and it didn't take.”

Evan's lips twitched with amusement as he listened to Mac. He slid into his lap, straddling it. “What about the rest of us?” Though he really was curious, he asked more because of how Mac seemed to light up every time he talked about his research.

“Ah, you see,” said Mac, grinning as he wrapped his arms around Evan.

Even though he had slowly come to terms with the whole soul bond thing, it still boggled Evan from time to time that Mac was his. They hadn't yet completed their bond, though, because Mac refused to push Evan beyond what he was ready for. Something he very much appreciated, but he was beginning to think that maybe Mac pushing him a little might not be a bad thing.

Mac jostled him, narrowing his eyes playfully. “Oy, are you listening to me?”

Evan blushed. “Sorry, guess I got a little distracted. What was that again?”

Mac gave him a knowing look, his lips quirking up in a crooked smile. Evan couldn't help himself, he dipped his head and kissed him. It was sweet, tender, and it left him with a feeling of contentment he couldn't remember ever really having before. Running his fingers through Mac's hair, he hummed softly to himself.

“Are you alright, sweetheart?” Mac asked quietly, his eyes searching Evan's.

He nodded. “Yeah. Just thinking about everything that's happened these past few months, I guess.”

Mac tilted his head. “You know I'm happy to wait for as long as you need, Ev. Right?”

“Yeah.” He bit his lip, earning him an inquisitive look. “I was thinking... between what happened down in the labs with the nanites, and the whole Chaya thing. Not to mention the Wraith encounters. Maybe I could do with a little less waiting. We both could.”

Mac's arms tightened around him. “What are you saying, Evan?”

The intensity of Mac's eyes made Evan's breath hitch slightly. “I'm saying that what we have – what we could still get – it's precious. I get that now, Mac, and I'd be worse than a fool to deny either of us the chance to be all we could be as soulmates. I may be many things, but I would hope a fool isn't one of them,” he quipped, though his heart was tripping over itself with anticipation.

“Are you certain, Evan?” Mac asked quietly.

He rolled his eyes and rested his forehead against Mac's. “You told me a while back that one of the things you'd discovered about the soul bond was the deep connection between mates. An awareness that was akin to that which all ATA carriers have with Atlantis itself.” Mac nodded, so Evan continued. “There are aspects to that we're still figuring out, right? What that means exactly?”

Again, Mac nodded.

“I know from Ioan that he and Kimberly are attuned to each other's moods. John and Rodney, they've proven that the bond lets us know when one of us is hurt, with a general idea of where and how badly. There's good and bad to both of those things, but I think, especially with where we live, it would not be a bad idea to be able to do. I know I'd want to know if anything happened to you, no matter what it was,” Evan said with quiet sincerity.

Mac reached up, cupping the back of his head as he pulled him closer. “You ought to know by now, Evan Lorne, that I can't really deny you anything,” he whispered against Evan's lips before kissing him deeply.

Evan closed his eyes and allowed himself to get lost in his mate for a moment. Pulling back reluctantly, he smiled and cleared his throat. “You know, much as I want to keep going, we probably had better stop for now. Technically still on duty,” he confessed.

Mac laughed, pecking his lips. “Well fine.” He smacked Evan's ass lightly. “But then you'd better get up or I won't be held accountable, love.”

With a put upon sigh, Evan got to his feet and hooked his foot around a stool, pulling it to him so he could sit next to Mac instead. “So, what was it you were trying to explain earlier?”

Shaking his head, Mac murmured, “You're really something, you know that?” He paused, collecting his thoughts. “Right. Okay. Well, basically the natural ATA carriers are direct descendants of the Ancients. If we were able to trace John's lineage, I'd wager he had Ancients on both sides of his family, probably several generations worth. It's why his gene is so strong. Same with General O'Neill, and you and Ioan, though you guys would have fewer in your family tree. Been diluted more.”

“And you?”

“Those of us who've had the therapy do have Ancient lineage, but it's been diluted too much to have all the markers active. The therapy basically 'fixed' our DNA so it's complete again.”

Evan tilted his head slightly. “I see. Guess that makes sense, sort of. I'm no scientist, but...” He shrugged. “It doesn't really matter. All that I really care about is that it allowed us to receive this gift we've been given.”

Mac took Evan hand in his and lifted it to his lips, kissing the back of it. “That's what it really boils down to, in the end, doesn't it?” he agreed quietly.

  
  
  
  
  



	26. Chapter 26

“Alright, gentlemen. What is your plan?” Elizabeth asked the group at large.

John and Evan shared a look. John suppressed a grin as he focused on her instead of his excited mate who was having a difficult time not bouncing in his seat. He leaned forward casually, resting his clasped hands on the table. “Well, we figure with the list Elizabeth-one gave us-”

A snort escaped Evan's lips which he quickly turned into a cough. John ignored the looks he was receiving, ranging from mild shock to amusement. “As I was saying, we figure that with that list, we have a few planets to try. My team'll go to Dagan since we've already had first contact there. Evan's team will check out the third address. Ioan's team will take the fourth. Markham's team the fifth. Rodney had Chuck try the addresses first to see if they all connected, which is why we were able to rule out the second address on the list. The gate won't connect, and without having a ship to send to the address, there's no way of knowing the reason for that.”

Elizabeth nodded thoughtfully. “Alright. When did you have in mind for this?”

“Actually, ma'am,” Evan chimed in, “we were planning on all of us going. We know the Wraith are on their way, so we figured the sooner we find a ZPM, the better.”

“We can be wheels up within the hour.”

Elizabeth tented her fingers in front of her mouth, thinking. After a minute, she agreed. “Very well. You have a go, but I would like you all to remain in regular contact. Arrange your call-in times with Chuck and stick to them, gentlemen.”

They hammered out the finer details of the respective missions for another fifteen minutes before heading out to get ready. John's team would be the last to head out, so they had time yet. He wanted to be there to see the others off, though, so he stuck around the gateroom. Rodney, apparently too excited by the prospect of finding ZPMs, was talking rapidly about who they could talk to to get help. “You remember Allina, John? The archeologist we met last time? I'm sure she and her people would be able to help us find it.”

John's lips twitched as his eyes met Teyla's, who looked equally amused. “Sure, Rodney, I remember her.” How could he forget. The woman seemed enamored with his mate and he was completely oblivious to her advances.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Peterson, you take point. Dylan, cover the rear. Simmons, you read anything yet?” Evan surveyed the area around the gate once more. They had already cleared it, but caution never hurt.

Simmons shook his head, eyes on his scanner. “No, sir. Not a thing. According to the information Dr. Grodin found, though, the outpost should be in that general direction,” he pointed somewhere to the right, toward forested hills.

Evan sighed. Of course it wouldn't be so easy. “Alright, let's head out. Everyone stay alert. We have two hours till we need to call home. Freeman, you and your team stay here as point of contact and hold the gate.”

It took them the better part of four hours to reach a clearing and they had already checked in once. They paused, Simmons again trying to get some sort of reading. He frowned. “If there's a ZPM here, sir, I can't tell it from the scanner. I'm getting no energy signature whatsoever.”

Well that didn't make sense, Evan thought. They should at least be getting _something_ if it was close by. “Fan out, stay in radio contact,” he ordered.

After another fifteen minutes, Peterson radioed, “Sir, I think I got something. About half a klick from where we started.”

“On our way, stay put.” Evan double-timed it, pleased to see the rest of the team converging on Peterson, too. “What've you got?”

Peterson jerked his head to a rock wall that would have been easily overlooked if it hadn't been for evidence of a rockslide exposing an entrance. The opening had been cleverly hidden from plain view, Evan thought. “Still nothing?” he asked Simmons, scanning the entryway.

“No, sir.”

Evan called Freeman, telling him to send Atlantis an update on their situation, then clicked off. “Alright. Eyes peeled, gentlemen,” he said, taking point.

Evan was starting to wonder about this place. Could Janus have been wrong about there being a ZPM here? So far, he hadn't really seen any indication there was anything remotely Lantean on this planet, regardless of what Janus had claimed or what the database said there should be. Still, it was the only intel they had, so he would do everything he could to confirm one way or the other.

Two minutes into the cave the passageway gave way to a large room, with several smaller doors leading off from it. There had once been a large doorway of sorts in the rock, but it was just empty space now, if you didn't count the debris from a partial collapse. They could vaguely make out shapes of Ancient consoles, but everything was pitch black inside. Nothing came to life when Evan stepped into the room and there was no awareness like he experienced in the city. His heart sank at the implications. Swallowing hard, he ordered his men to search the small compound for any sign of a ZPM, cautioning them to watch out for instabilities, and they split up.

Evan had tried two rooms already, finding nothing but more Ancient tech that wasn't working, as well as some abandoned equipment that he was sure McKay wouldn't mind getting his hands on for spare parts, and more fallen rock. As he entered the third, he closed his eyes and cursed under his breath. In the middle of the small room, the dais that housed the ZPM was in ruins, the ZPM exposed and very obviously broken. The back wall had completely collapsed, bringing part of the ceiling down on top of it.

Clicking his radio, he sighed. “I think I found it, but it's a dud. Let's head back to the gate.” At least it explained why they hadn't picked up any energy signatures. He wasn't looking forward to telling Dr. Weir or McKay about this, though.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Radek ducked under the console, trying to figure out what the idiots had done to it this time.

“I don't know what happened,” Chuck claimed, sipping his coffee. “It just stopped working. I got some of the functionality back but it's still not doing everything it used to.”

Clenching his teeth, Radek popped back up and checked the readings on his laptop. _When_ would people learn? “Yes, well maybe if people stop insisting on having food and liquid in such close proximity to the ten _thousand_ year old equipment,” he bitched, giving Chuck a pointed glare.

“Hey, we're very careful. We are not the problem here,” Chuck retorted with a scowl of his own.

“Yes, uhhuh,” he muttered. Rolling his eyes, Radek turned his attention back to his laptop. Frowning, he double checked the readout he was getting. Sighing, he got to his feet and turned to grab something out of his toolkit when the big screen suddenly flashed and started spouting information in Ancient. He jerked around, pointing an accusing finger at Chuck. “What did you touch?”

Chuck held up both hands. “Nothing! I didn't touch anything, I swear!”

Cursing in Czech, Radek rushed to the console, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. His laptop indicated that a new program had powered up on its own, but he couldn't tell what. Slowly turning back toward the big screen, Radek murmured, “Then what is it-?” He blinked.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Ioan, did you find it?” Kimberly asked the second her team made it through the gate. She hated that she hadn't been able to join them, but she still hadn't been cleared for regular duty. Dr. Abel had taken her place instead. She was competent enough, but AR-3 was _hers_ as far as Kimberly was concerned.

Ioan shook his head, looking disgruntled. “No. The area that you and Grodin put the outpost at is just... gone. Utterly obliterated. Pretty recently, too, from what we could tell. There was evidence of a Wraith attack on the planet, but no survivors which is new.”

Kimberly's face fell as she walked beside her mate to the meeting room for his debrief. “Damn,” she muttered. Ioan glanced at her. “Any word from the others?” She shook her head. “No, not yet.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Rodney listened as Allina explained about the Brotherhood of Fifteen who had been entrusted with a precious artifact by the Ancestors. He was remarkably impressed by everything Allina and her group had discovered since their last visit. He thought that Daniel would have loved being here, as this whole mission was right up his alley. He hated to admit it, even to himself, but Rodney was enjoying himself. Not because he was suddenly developing an interest in a soft science like archeology, but this whole thing had a feel of an intricate puzzle about it which he enjoyed. And hello, ZPM as a reward!

Allina handed out three square stones with engravings on them, explaining that these three clues recently had been uncovered. “Where did you find them?” he asked, only half paying attention to her as he inspected the stone he had been handed.

“This building used to be their monastery, actually. We pieced together some of the information we found here and tracked down the number six and seven stones. We found the number three stone on an unrelated dig just last week.”

“So if we find the stones, we find the map,” John said thoughtfully.

Allina nodded. “Yes, exactly.”

Rodney's mind was racing, trying to put the puzzle pieces together. He wasn't sure what all the markings meant, but the ones at the bottom were fairly obvious. At least, to him. “Hm. You see this?” he pointed at the nine square grid with one colored grid at the top right.

Ford frowned down at the stone in his hands. “Part of the design?”

Rolling his eyes, Rodney suppressed a sigh. “I don't think anything on these stones is there just for esthetics. Here, hand me that,” he said, snapping his fingers for Ford to hand his stone over. Glancing at it, he nodded, placing it on the table in the right sequence. “Each of the stones has a part of the grid embossed.” He touched the grid.

“Signifying where its correct placing should be in the final configuration,” Allina said, smiling in understanding.

Rodney tapped the side of his nose, pleased she had caught on so quickly. “Exactly.”

“So what?” Ford asked, shrugging.

Rodney just stared at him for several seconds. “So what?” he repeated, baffled. Didn't he _get_ it? It was so simple! “Ay...” He sighed, shaking his head in despair. He turned to Allina. “Do you have a map?” Maybe if the lieutenant _saw_ it, he'd get it. A glance over at his mate reassured him that it was dawning on John at least.

Allina's assistant handed her a map and she spread it out on the table. They secured it with a few props to keep it from rolling back up. “Okay,” Rodney said, grabbing a piece of charcoal. “Where did you find the first one?” She pointed to the spot and he marked it, then did the same with the second and third stone locations. “You have no idea how lucky a find that third stone was,” he muttered as he drew a grid pattern.

Teyla wasn't sure what she was seeing and Ford still looked clueless. Teyla, he could understand, but he really had expected better from his youngest teammate. Still, he needed for them to be on the same page, so he went over things again, relieved when the light bulbs finally seemed to go on for them.

John sighed, looking resigned. “Alright. Split up. Two teams. Let's start digging.”

Rodney shot him an amused look which earned him the stinkeye, but that just made his grin widen. Seemingly in spite of himself, John chuckled, shaking his head.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Incoming wormhole,” Chuck announced. “Radio message from Sergeant Stackhouse.”

“Put him through,” Elizabeth said, walking up to him, Ioan and his team following close behind having just finished their debrief.

“Dr. Weir, this is Sergeant Stackhouse. Ma'am, I'm sorry to report that the outpost has been destroyed. It appears there was an extinction level volcanic eruption at some point. We've done a full survey of the planet, but aside from a few half-buried relics here and there, there's nothing here. Scans show that the area the outpost was in is covered in hardened lava. We've tried to see whether there's any chance of accessing it, if it's even still there underneath, but no luck.”

Ioan closed his eyes and let out a long breath. Hopefully SA-1 would have better luck, because it was all up to them now. Every other team had struck out.

Elizabeth looked as disappointed as he felt. “Alright, Sergeant. Come on home. No point for you to stay there. I'll ask Dr. McKay whether it's worth looking into further.”

“Yes, ma'am, coming through now. Stackhouse, out.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“I'm sorry, the sensors picked it up days ago, but it took me until now to finally decipher what they were trying to tell us,” Radek said apologetically. Pushing his glasses back up, he pointed at the screen.

Dr. Weird leaned over his shoulder, eyes wide with shock. “A dart? How is that possible? The Hive ships are still light years away!”

“Well, perhaps it was modified to get here as quickly as possible. Maybe it used gate to nearest planet and has been flying top speed ever since they discovered we were here.” Radek shrugged as he tabbed between screens. “At its current velocity, it will be over the city in...” he paused, and Ioan swore he could see the man working it out in his head. “Twenty-seven minutes.”

Crap. That was not good. Ioan took a steadying breath and met Kimberly's eyes. She had paled considerably. Dr. Weir straightened and nodded as if to herself. “Right. We need to get jumpers in the air. Lieutenant, I want at least three in the air as soon as possible.”

Ioan saluted. “Yes, ma'am. I'm on it.”

He turned to leave, but Kimberly grasped his wrist, her eyes wide with fear. “Please be careful,” she whispered.

He could sense just how afraid she was through their bond, so he did what he could to assure her. Placing his hand over hers, he squeezed it and gave her a small smile. “Always. I'll be back before you know it. You help Radek, okay?”

“Of course.”

Leaning in, he gave her a quick peck on the lips, heedless of their surroundings because he knew it was what she needed. He was rewarded with an approximation of her usual smile and a slight lessening of the knot of anxiety in their bond that was her. “That's my girl,” he murmured. “Gotta go. Love you.”

He double-timed it, calling out orders over the radio for Kagawa, Markham, Beckett, Bates, and Smith to report to the jumper bay. He still caught Kimberly's, “I love you, too,” as he went.

Within minutes they were all in the air and Radek was piping them information. “You should have visual in thirty seconds.”

Ioan glanced at the HUD while Kagawa peered out the window. “Anything?” Ioan asked.

“No, nothing yet. I can't see anything but blue sky.”

Ioan hit the comms. “Eyes peeled everyone.” All his focus was on the incoming Wraith, willing for it to show itself so they could shoot it already.

“I see it!” Smith called a few seconds later. “It's at our one o'clock and heading right f-”

Ioan's eyes swiveled to where Smith indicated and he blinked in shock when it appeared out of nowhere, took out Markham's jumper and broke for the city. “Beckett, Bates, do _not_ let him acquire a target.”

“I'm a bloody doctor, not a fighter pilot!” came Carson's agitated voice even as he veered around in pursuit of the dart.

Ioan shook his head, following suit. They had to take that damned dart down, _now_. Man, that thing was stealthy. He could definitely see where it got its name from. It was everything Ioan could do to keep pace with it, the way it was weaving between the turrets of Atlantis. It wasn't giving them a clean shot which was pissing him off. He needed to take it out but he couldn't risk firing in this close proximity to the city and the Wraith seemed to know it.

“What is it doing?” Bates asked incredulously. Ioan was wondering the same thing. The beam that was coming from it he had only seen when they were culling, but there was no way it was trying to do that. There was no one in the open and they couldn't go through walls. Could they?

Just then, it suddenly turned upward, speeding away and finally giving them their chance to open fire. Right when Ioan was ready to do so, the dart exploded into a ball of fire. Kagawa gaped, stunned. “It wasn't me,” Ioan murmured. “Beckett, did you fire?”

“No, that wasn't us,” Carson confirmed, sounding breathless.

The hell?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kolya. Of course it _had_ to be Kolya, Rodney thought, closing his eyes. A shudder went through him as memories of the strike on Atlantis barraged him. A spike of worry through the bond had him opening his eyes again, only to meet his mate's worried gaze. He so could have done with never crossing paths with that maniac again, and especially not when he and his team were stuck in an underground chamber with Kolya barring their only way out.

Rodney listened as John and Kolya volleyed back and forth, trying to understand what the man could possibly want from them. When he mentioned wanting the ZPM, Rodney's stomach dropped. It would be useless to the Genii, he knew that, but if they did find it and the Genii wanted it... Yeah, Rodney was fully capable of imagining the lengths Kolya would go to to get it, and most of them would end up with his team dead, starting with John. He was not going to let that happen. They could find another ZPM or even try to take this one back, but only if they were all alive to try.

Teyla tried to convince him they hadn't gotten it yet because they were missing the last piece, but Kolya wasn't buying it. Steeling his nerve, Rodney squared his shoulders and stepped into line of sight. Grabbing the pulley, he looked up, scowling. “She's right. We're close but we're not there yet. The ninth stone is hidden on another planet. All we have is the gate address.”

Another spike of emotion came from John, but Rodney refused to acknowledge it or him. He had to do this in order to save his team. To save John. Gritting his teeth, Rodney counted to ten when Kolya offered the expected disparaging greeting. He _could_ keep it together. He had to. Glaring, he ground out, “Do you want to keep trading barbs, or do you want to find the ZPM?” He paused, taking a deep breath. “Look, you lift me up and I'll help you find it, but then you let my team go!”

“Rodney!” John hissed, shocked.

“Shut up,” Rodney murmured, casting a sidelong glance at his mate. “Do you have any better idea?”

“No,” he admitted. For a second, Rodney wasn't sure whether the sickening disappointment came from John or from himself, but he pushed it resolutely aside all the same.

“Didn't think so,” Rodney murmured as a leaden feeling settled in his stomach. Kolya allowed him and two of the Daganians topside, leaving his team down in the secret chamber they had been caught in. When the gate address failed to work, Rodney's chest tightened with fear. Thankfully, Allina's idea that they might be looking in the wrong place proved fruitful and between the two of them they eventually figured out where the last stone was. It almost proved harder to actually get at the stupid thing than locating it, thanks to Kolya’s men and their rampant paranoia. The brief moment of elation when Rodney slid the stone from its hidden niche behind the painting in the monastery lasted exactly long enough for Kolya to coldly remind him that his team might live to fight another day as long as they hurried up and found his prize.

When they got back to the secret chamber, Rodney was relieved to see for himself that John was okay. The bond hadn't told him otherwise, but he would not have put it past Kolya to try something anyway, and they hadn't really tried to see whether distance made any kind of difference in how much feedback the bond gave. Going to have to do something about that, Rodney thought idly as he peered at the pedestal to try to work out what configuration the stones needed to be in.

Kolya's henchman, Pranos, thought he knew better and despite Rodney's warnings, Kolya ordered the man to work the device. Rodney's breath caught when the boobytrap claimed the man's life. “He is dead,” Kolya said in that quietly dangerous voice he got when he was angry. Rodney took an involuntary step back when the man railed at him. “You knew.”

Squaring his shoulders, Rodney defiantly looked him in the eye. “Yes. Yes, I did. In fact, I was in the middle of warning you against this very thing when you ordered him to do it. You killed him, not me!”

God, but his heart was hammering in his chest. Taking deep, steadying breaths Rodney focused on remaining calm. He had to be able to think or they would all die. Feeling John's nudge of confidence and calm reassurance through the bond nearly made his knees buckle.

“What's the correct order of the stones?” Kolya demanded.

“I'm not sure yet,” Rodney admitted reluctantly. He needed more time to figure this out. The answer was right in front of him, he knew it, he just couldn't see it yet.

With a dangerous glint in his eyes, Kolya stalked over to his team and sneered, “Well, you have four chances to get it right. You go first, Major.”

Oh no no no no. Not John. Rodney stared at his mate wide-eyed. John swallowed hard, and Rodney knew he was trying to put up a good front for him, but he could feel the trickle of fear seeping through. Oh God, this was so not good. Think, Rodney, think! Rubbing his hands on his thighs, he turned back to the pedestal, mentally going over every computation he could think of and coming up blank. Panic began to settle in.

John picked up the stones and randomly started rearranging them. “Any time you want to start-”

Rodney cut him off. “I'm thinking, I'm thinking.” He could feel John's anxiety adding to his own which was so not helping. He glared at the stones as if the lack of answer was a personal affront.

“Alright. We've tried one through nine,” John stated.

Rodney rolled his eyes. “Thank you, yes.” Why couldn't he just be quiet? He couldn't think straight anymore. Wrapping his arm tight around his chest, he bit his thumbnail nervously.

“Well, what about the reverse?” John asked, obviously grasping at straws.

“Possibly. Look, Pranos was right in one thing. The center stone is the only one that locks into place, all the others must move around it. I'm just trying to find a combination that makes sense with five in the middle.”

“Fifteen.” John breathed deep. “It's gotta have something to do with fifteen. Or nine or five.”

“Shut. Up. Please? I'm trying to think.” Rodney tamped down hard on his fears, or at least he tried to. He was going to lose his soulmate if he didn't come up with the correct answer, and he'd only just gotten him back. A stab of annoyance came to him, making him cringe.

“Don't tell me to shut up, Rodney. My life is at stake,” John scolded, frowning.

“Exactly, so simmer down and let me save it.” He just had to. Somehow. He tried to ignore the delight coming from Kolya. Oh, but he hated that man. He really, really did.

John huffed, amused in spite of himself. “Ever hear of 'two heads is better than one', Rodney?”

He rolled his eyes, biting his nail again. “Common misconception,” he muttered.

John glared at Kolya. “Give me the gun, I'll shoot him myself.”

Rodney gaped at him. What the hell? Was he serious? It took him a second to realize John was trying to throw the other man off and buy them time. Not that it worked, of course.

“This is taking too long. Choose and go,” Kolya ordered.

Rodney looked to him, incredulous. “You got somewhere you gotta be?” he snapped. He was _not_ going to rush into this, not and risk John's life.

“Choose and go,” Kolya repeated dangerously.

Rodney's heart skipped a beat as he turned to his mate, whispering, “I got nothing.” For all his brains, all his bluster, he hadn't been able to come up with a way to figure all this out and get them out of his mess. He had never felt more useless in his life.

“Thanks for the pep talk,” John quipped in an attempt to break the tension between them.

Rodney wanted to yell, to scream. To hold John and never let him go even while he wanted to rush at Kolya and kill the bastard for putting them through this. Instead, he stood rooted to the spot, staring helplessly at his mate who wouldn't or couldn't meet his eyes. Even with the bond Rodney wasn't sure which. “Nine to one is all I can think of,” he murmured, knowing in his heart of hearts that wasn't the right answer.

John bit his lip, nodding firmly. “Okay. Step back.” He both looked and felt resigned and determined which only made the whole mess worse for Rodney.

He wanted to cry. “I'm sorry,” he croaked. And he was. For failing John. For the distance there had been between them after Chaya. For everything he had done wrong.

“I'm not dead yet,” John scolded, casting a brief glance at him.

For a second, Rodney thought he saw something in his mate's eyes, but it was gone too quickly for him to grasp and John was dimming the bond between them from everything but the love he felt. Rodney thought his heart might break before the man even tried to use the device. “Yeah, sorry.”

Though it was the last thing he wanted to do, he took a few steps back and watched anxiously as John stared at the pedestal. Wrapping his arms tight around him, he kept a silent mantra of 'I'm so sorry' and 'please don't die' going in his head.

“Major, now,” Kolya prodded. Rodney shot the man a glare, wishing he wouldn't be so eager to see John die.

John shook his head slightly, casting a sidelong glance at Rodney before forcing his eyes forward again. Rodney could have sworn he saw the gears in his mate's head turn as he weighed his options. His breathing came quicker as the inevitable seemed to become real to him. Suddenly, his whole demeanor changed and Rodney could sense elation coming through the bond. “I got it!”

“What?” Rodney automatically moved toward John, who smiled.

“The Brotherhood of Fifteen!”

“What about it?” Rodney asked, confused. His eyes raked over John, trying to ascertain if he had lost his mind.

“The numbers one to nine can be put in a three by three grid so they add up to fifteen in every direction,” John stated, his focus fixed on the stones.

Rodney's eyes widened. How had he _missed_ that? “You're right. But... how did you know that?” He shot him an appraising look, marveling on this titbit of information on John that he had had no idea of.

John grinned. “It was on a Mensa test.”

Wait, what? “You're a member of Mensa?” Rodney frowned, confused.

John shook his head. “No, but I took the test,” he confessed.

“When?” he asked before he could stop himself.

The grin slipped from John's lips as he turned to Rodney. “You want to talk about this now, Rodney?”

Right. Of course. “Right, right,” he agreed, glancing over his shoulder at an impatient Kolya.

Together, they placed the stones in order to they made fifteen. That had to be it, it just had to. Kolya muttered, “Good luck,” and Rodney thought the man couldn't have sounded less sincere if he had tried.

Inhaling slowly and meeting Rodney's eyes one last time, John placed his hands on the prints next to the stones and held his breath. Both he and Rodney jumped when the ZPM popped out of the wall. They'd done it! John was still alive. Kolya would get the ZPM, but right in that second all Rodney cared about was John.

All hell broke loose when Kolya went to remove the ZPM as someone released a flashbang. Rodney stumbled forward, momentarily blinded and deafened by the blast. What the hell? He was vaguely aware of fighting going on around him so he tried to scuttle to a corner, and out of the way.

When it was over, John hurried toward him. “You okay? Sorry, Rodney, I had no way of letting you know what was coming.”

His annoyance and discomfort briefly won out over anything else, causing him to fall back on his default setting: bitch mode. John's fond amusement didn't help his mood but pulling the full ZPM out of the wall cheered him up enough to overlook it.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“We really could have used it,” Elizabeth said as she led them up to the control room.

Yeah, he knew that, thanks. It was his fault the ZPM slipped through their fingers, he didn't need to have it rubbed in, Rodney thought morosely. It would be a long time before he would get over Allina’s betrayal. He had thought her his friend - or at least a potential one - and she had stabbed them all in the back by stealing the ZPM, all while claiming to be the new Brotherhood of Fifteen and saying they were unworthy of the Ancestors’ gift. His heart sank even further when he listened to Elizabeth explain everything that had happened while they'd been off world.

“We lost a jumper in the attack, along with Markham and Smith,” she said, quietly adding, “Stackhouse passed away here in the gate room minutes after that.”

Rodney's knees buckled and he had to grab at the console to stay upright. So John had been right. Jason and Marcus had been soulmates. They had never come forward, but that had to be the reason. Rodney stared hard at John's taut back, as the icy knowledge of how close they had come to that rushed through him.

Rodney's brain seemed locked on that thought, unable to move beyond it. That was, until they mentioned deep space sensors. Frowning, he asked Radek, “Wait, we have deep space sensors?”

Radek looked slightly abashed. “Ah, yes. It's long story.”

“And we found something else. Rather unsettling,” Elizabeth cut in.

Rodney stepped up to John who was decidedly unhappy by this latest turn of events. “I'm already unsettled. Show me,” John told them.

With a nod from Elizabeth, Radek directed them to the screen and pulled up their findings. Leaning forward, Rodney tried to make sense of what he was seeing. “What are those?”

Radek sighed, glancing at Rodney. “Wraith Hive ships. Three of them,” he added, pointing them out. “The system analysis just got back-”

“Great,” John interrupted. “But where are they headed?”

Elizabeth crossed her arms, glancing down before meeting his eyes. “If they maintain their direction and speed, they'll be over our planet in two weeks.”

Rodney blanched. Two weeks? That wasn't enough time! How were they supposed to get ready to defend Atlantis when they didn't have a ZPM? He reached blindly for John's hand, squeezing it hard when his fingers closed around it.

Two weeks. He would have two weeks with his soulmate, at least. A lifetime if they got lucky. _If_ they got _very_ lucky.


	27. Chapter 27

John stared at Rodney, stooped over his laptop as he worked hard on the compression program he and Kimberly were trying to perfect in order to send one last, brief message back to the SGC, warning them about the Wraith threat. Gritting his teeth, he tamped down hard on the fear of losing Rodney that tried to bubble up. John wasn't really afraid of much. Wasn't even all that afraid of the Wraith as a whole, not after having fought them several times now and come out of each encounter alive. But that had been on their turf. This time was different. They were descending on their home and they were after their blood, and his people had nowhere to run. No way to fight back with any hope of survival.

So yes, John was afraid now. Afraid of losing the most precious thing life had ever given him. He scrubbed his fingers through his hair, scolding himself for entertaining such thoughts. He couldn't afford the luxury of them, not for himself and definitely not for his mate. With a sigh, John stepped over to the coffee machine, poured Rodney another cup, and set a new pot to brew. He tried not to think how many he and his team had powered through already. Too many, he was sure, but he knew they needed to be as alert as possible.

Putting his hand on the back of Rodney's neck, he squeezed lightly as he placed the man's cup in front of him. Rodney leaned back into his touch, lifting his head to smile tiredly at John. “Thanks,” he murmured.

Leaning in, John pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. “You're welcome. Least I can do. How's the program going?”

Rodney shrugged. “Oh, it's done if we need it to be, but I think I can squeeze a bit more out of it. I figure the more information we can send back to Earth, the better. They need to know what's coming, John.”

“Agreed. Try to get some sleep soon, though. You won't do anyone any good if you're dead on your feet.”

Rodney closed his eyes and stretched his arms over his head, dislodging John's hold on him in the process. He groaned, blinking slowly as he tried to focus on John again. “I know. I will. What about you?”

John smiled wryly as he leaned against Rodney's desk. “That was what I came to tell you. I'm taking a jumper out to see if I can gather some intel. Radek believes the Wraith will stop at a couple of planets before they make it here, probably in order to feed. Teyla and I'll go to one of them. She has contacts she feels might know something, and she'd like to warn them of the culling if she can.”

Rodney frowned, eyes searching John's. “Don't do anything stupidly heroic, okay? Come home in one piece.”

John sighed, staring down at his feet. “Not coming home isn't an option for me, Rodney,” he confessed as he met his mate's gaze. It hadn't been an option for a long time now, John thought.

Getting to his feet, Rodney wrapped his arms around John, holding him tight. John held him in his arms, relishing the intimate bond they had once more. He would do anything he could to keep it. Reluctantly, John let go, cupping Rodney's neck. “I'll be back before you know it, babe.”

Rodney narrowed his eyes briefly, then nodded. Resting his hands on John's hips, he sighed, tilting his head. “I love you, you know?” he said quietly.

John's lips twitched, fighting a smile. “I know.” He bit his tongue to keep from adding more. Not because he didn't feel the same, but because he knew Rodney, and he was waiting for it. Any second now, John thought.

“Who do you think you are? Han Solo?” Rodney groused under his breath, though John could tell both through the bond and the man's eyes that he was more amused than upset.

John laughed, pressing his lips to Rodney's forehead. “Wouldn't dream of it. I love you, too, you idiot,” he said fondly, earning him a smile. The bond told him that Rodney was a little less tense now, so he'd done what he had hoped to do.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Alright, we have our city specs, tactical assessments, and mission reports all ready to go. What else?” Elizabeth asked the room at large.

Rodney was only half paying attention to the meeting, his mind preoccupied on other matters – only part of which was seeing whether he could make any further improvements on the compression algorithm. Another part was touching on his bond with John which had him frowning as he wondered why he was feeling annoyance coming through it. That, and he was marveling at the fact that even with John off world, he could feel him, vague as the sensation was. “Well, I've included a ton of data that we've been able to decipher from the Ancient database.”

Elizabeth gave him a peculiar look. What, didn't she believe him? “Really?” she asked. Okay, apparently she doubted him. And wasn't that annoying. “That is incredible,” she added.

Why yes, of course it was. He couldn't quite suppress the smug look on his face as he replied, “Well, the algorithm I devised is extraordinarily efficient, yes.”

Carson huffed, glowering at his hands. “Oh, please.”

Rodney shot him a dirty look. Okay, so maybe he should have mentioned that it was a collaborative effort with Miko and Kimberly, but the program had initially been his baby. Surprisingly, Elizabeth defended him. “Well, it must be for all that data to fit into one point three seconds.”

Rodney straightened, grinning. “Point three seconds, actually,” he boasted.

She gaped at him. “We have a whole extra second to fill?”

“Hm, yes. Imagine that, a whole extra second,” he retorted, trying – and failing – to keep his snark to a minimum. Maybe John was right and he should get some sleep soon. His tongue always seemed to sharpen when he was sleep deprived.

Everyone stared at him for a moment. Elizabeth frowned down at the table, obviously considering something. When she looked up at him, she seemed hopeful. “Is it enough to include personal messages?”

Rodney blinked, contemplating. “Err, sure? Several hours of video, much more if it's strictly audio.”

A smile spread her lips as she met everyone's eyes. “I think it'd be wondrous for moral. Especially now.”

Kate and Carson both nodded in agreement. Evan and Ioan merely exchanged looks, while Ford seemed to be the most excited about the prospect. “I can finally tell my grandma what I've been up to all this time.”

Elizabeth suppressed a smile. “If your grandmother had security clearance, yes you could,” she gently admonished him. He grinned, abashed. “But for now you can tell her that you're well, and that you miss her,” she added.

Rodney barely refrained from rolling his eyes. He had no idea why the lieutenant seemed to be less and less able to use his brain. It truly baffled him because when he'd first met the man, he had seemed such a bright guy, full of potential. Rodney had actually started to wonder whether it was possible for someone to have a complete breakdown without anyone really noticing. Sighing, he gathered his things. “This is all very charming, but I have work to do. Shouldn't I, err...” He trailed off, glancing expectantly at Elizabeth.

“Yes, please do,” she said, nodding. Without waiting for any objections, Rodney got to his feet even as she turned to Ford. “Lieutenant, maybe you'd like to handle this? Give everyone a few minutes on camera to send a personal message to their loved ones.”

“I'd love to, ma'am.”

“Off you go,” she said, tapping the table, but Rodney was already headed to the stairs. As soon as he arrived at his lab, he called Miko, Kimberly, and Radek to him and had them go over ways – again – to maximize the energy output while minimizing the risk of overloading their systems in the hopes of expanding the window the gate would remain open. Every microsecond would count, especially with the likelihood of everyone on the expedition making a video. He wanted everyone to have the opportunity to say their goodbyes.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Evan and Ioan were going through their weapons manifest in order to try to supply the bolt holes John had insisted on after the Genii attack. They had worked hard between the three of them to find the best strategic positions, both for occurrences of invasion through the gate and aerial assaults.

Ioan sighed, pausing as he caught Ford out of the corner of his eye, carrying a small camera.

“What?” Evan asked quietly.

Ioan shook his head, turning to his brother. “Do you have any idea what to say?”

“No,” Evan admitted. “You?”

He shrugged. “I know what I would like to tell mom and dad, but... How can we, Ev? I mean... Earth doesn't know about the soul bonds yet and after the whole Chaya thing I'm not so sure that that is information we should be sending.” At Evan's shocked expression, he added quickly, “Don't get me wrong, I think people have the right to know, but think about it Evan. I know that Chaya was an Ascended and all, but they've been making a lot of strides in the field of genetics lately. Do you really believe that there won't be someone out there who would try to use the soul bond thing for their own gain?”

Evan seemed to consider that for a moment, then grimaced. “You're right. It'd be different if we were in constant contact with Earth and we could ensure that the information would be handled responsibly – as much as that ever happens at any rate – but to just dump it on them and hope for the best?”

Ioan nodded, relieved his brother could see his concern. “Exactly. It's too risky. Even with most of the natural ATA carriers here on Atlantis, there are still a few on Earth. And they know there are people who would get the full genome if given the ATA therapy. I know that they wouldn't be able to utilize that yet, but how long do you think it'd be before that got sanctioned if this came out? How soon before the experiments'll start? And if they get their hands on a bonded pair, how long before they hold one hostage in whatever way they deem necessary in order to force them to comply to someone's wishes? We'd be putting people in danger. It isn't like the IOA will have anyone's back on that one, and General O'Neill can only do so much.”

A look of sadness swept over Evan's face. Ioan stepped over to his brother, putting a hand on his shoulder. Evan met his eyes with a sad smile. “I was just thinking how happy it would make them to know about Mac. And Kimberly for that matter.”

“I know, Ev. We can't tell them, though. Back home, the regulations still stand and it would open up a can of worms they don't need to be dealing with on top of everything else.”

Evan huffed a laugh. “When did you become so wise, huh?”

Ioan grinned. “Guess I take after my big brother that way,” he quipped.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Hello, Da. I'm sorry I haven't been able to be in touch before now. Things have been a mite... hectic these past few months.” Mac grinned sheepishly into the camera, running his fingers through his hair. “The mission I'm on has been a challenge at times, but it's been grand on the whole. I've made a lot of new friends, some of whom I hope one day you'll get to meet.”

And wasn't that the understatement of the century, Mac thought. He dearly wished he could tell his father about Evan, but he understood why they had all been ordered to keep mum about the soul bonds. He wondered fleetingly whether his parents would have been soulmates, too. He remembered all too well how much they had loved each other. How much it had hurt his dad when mum had passed away.

He shook his head, smiling. “Sorry, Da. I'm maudlin' I guess. I miss you a lot. I wish I could tell you all the exciting things we're discovering every day it seems. Maybe some day. Anyway, I hope you're doing alright and that you're watching after yourself. You'll have to tell me about any new exhibits at the museum next time, okay? Love you.”

He glanced away and cleared his throat a couple of times. Right. That had been much more difficult than he had thought. Still, he hoped it would help his father, at least. Turning to Lieutenant Ford, he nodded. “Thanks, Lieutenant. I think... I think that'll be it for me,” he murmured.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

He liked Teyla, John reminded himself firmly as he swung the ship back toward the planet. She was a great friend, a worthy ally, and she had one of the biggest hearts he knew. Still, he was more than a little irked that she kept insisting on going back for her friend and his family, they would be cutting it close as it was just to get to the gate. He certainly understood her desire to save them, but that hadn't been part of the mission and trying to swing back to rescue them would put them and everyone on Atlantis at risk. Well, _more_ risk. They _had_ to make it back to the city to warn them of what was coming. This wasn't just three Hive ships, it was damn near an entire armada. He had no idea what kind of defense they might be able to mount against that kind of attack, but without the intel the answer to that would be nil.

“Sorry, Teyla, but there isn't time,” he ground out as he pushed the jumper as fast as it would go. The HUD told him it wasn't helping much, the Wraith were right on his heels, heading for the planet for what looked to be the biggest culling he'd ever seen. “Dial the gate as soon as we're in range, we're only going to get one shot at this.”

“Major, if we could just-” she protested.

John jerked his head around to face her. “Look, I get it, Teyla. I wish we could help them. Hell, I wish we could save everybody in the galaxy, but we can't. You pick the battles that you know you can win and this isn't one of them.”

Teyla glared at him, her displeasure painfully obvious to John. Still, she nodded curtly and began the dialing sequence. Before she was finished, however, the gate activated and she gasped. “I have heard of the Wraith dialing in to prevent the people of using it as a means of escape during a culling. They will keep the gate busy for hours, major.”

Dammit, John thought, taking a deep, steadying breath. He tried to push reassurance through the bond, not wanting Rodney to worry more than he likely already was. If the man wasn't keeping himself too busy to really think about the fact John wasn't on the city. He could feel the exhaustion coming from the other man and he wished he were home so he could make the scientist get some much needed rest.

With a sigh, John changed course, heading to the place Teyla had told her friend to go. “Looks like we have time,” he muttered, earning him a grateful look. He just hoped they would all make it through the culling for this risk to have been worth it.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Rodney frowned, staring at the camera he had set up on his desk. He wished John were here to do this with him. Downing his coffee, he sighed, scowling at it. What cup was he on now? He'd lost count. Putting it down, he checked the settings one last time before hitting record and taking his seat – and proceeded to babble. His mind was going in continuous circles and several times he found himself talking without being really conscious of what he was saying. As soon as he realized that he had let something slip he shouldn't have, he would rally himself – or try to, at least – and force himself back on subject.

The entire time, he held onto the bond with John, worried for his mate who was hours late for check in. At least he knew he was still alive and unharmed. For now.

John. Rodney suddenly sat up straighter as the thought suddenly hit him that he _wanted_ John to meet his sister. He and Jeannie had been at odds for years, ever since she gave up her potential future in favor of marrying whatshisface – Kaleb, his brain supplied unhelpfully – though he had to admit that that was mostly due to himself. Scrubbing his face, he groaned. God, he had been so stupid!

His thoughts whirled, jumping from one to the next in rapid fire fashion as it always did when things suddenly became clear to him. Jeannie was his _sister_. That meant that she would also have the genome, or at least that the gene therapy would work. What if Kaleb had it, too, and he was _her_ soulmate? What right did Rodney have to hold that against her? None, that's what. And now he was in another galaxy and he would never be able to tell her how sorry he was for all the angry things he had said to her. He would never be able to tell her about John, or about the whole concept of a soul bond. She would find it so fascinating, too. He was sure of that.

Clearing his throat, he stared at the camera. “Jeannie... my sister. Okay, Ford, if you edit out everything else, please, keep this and make sure it gets through? Thanks.” Taking a deep breath, he smiled tentatively. “Hey, Jeannie. I'm sorry I'm not there in person to tell you this, but... Well, I'm sorry. For everything. I know I haven't been the best brother in the world, and I definitely haven't been the brother you deserve but I just wanted you to know that I love you. And I wish that we could have the chance to start over again. I hope that you and Kaleb are happy, and that little Madison – well, not so little anymore, I suppose, it's been a few years hasn't it? – anyway, that she's doing well. Give her a hug from her Uncle Mer, if you would.” He tried not to cringe at the use of his nickname. He hated the name Meredith, but his family had always refused to call him by his middle name. He figured that using it now was the least he could do. An olive branch, so to speak, since he normally would lay into anyone who called him Mer or Meredith.

Turning the camera off, he muttered under his breath. “And Ford had better keep his mouth shut about it if he knows what's good for him. At least not too many people will actually see this.” He shuddered at the thought of anyone on Atlantis getting it into their heads to start using his first name.

~*~*~*~*~*~

“You ready, Dr. Smyth?” Lieutenant Ford asked after he was done setting up.

Kimberly ran her fingers through her hair and tugged at her shirt to even out the wrinkles some. She wasn't sure she was ready, but she knew she had to try. Had to offer her family some sort of closure, if she could. Taking a deep breath, she nodded.

Lieutenant Ford gave her a reassuring smile. “Okay, go for it.”

“Mom. Dad. Just wanted to let you know I'm doing alright, and that I love and miss you guys so much. I'm sorry I haven't been in touch, but work's... well, it's been a bit of a bear. Don't get me wrong, it's challenging and exciting and I'm learning new things nearly every day, but... it can be a bit much at times.”

She smiled down at her hands briefly. “I wish I could tell you everything that's been going on, but there just isn't time. We only get a few minutes each, so I'll try to be succinct. I've met some amazing people here, mom. I wish you could meet some of them. I think... I think you'd like them a lot, too.” She bit her lip to keep from saying more than she should. “Anyway, I'm almost out of time. Hopefully you two are doing well, and I'll try to get in touch again soon. Love you, so much.”

“That it?” Ford asked, pausing the recording when she looked up at him.

“Actually... I was wondering whether I could have another minute? I'd like to get a message to a close friend of mine, too, if that's okay?” She knew she couldn't convey everything that she would have wished, but maybe if he saw...

“Sure thing.” He hit record again and nodded.

“This message is for Dr. Jackson. Hey, Daniel. It's me. Just a quick hello from you know where. I'm... doing great, actually. I wish you were here so you could see some of the wonders for yourself. You'd _love_ it here. There's so much to discover. Anyway, I just.. I needed to let you know that everything will be okay. For you, I mean. Remember what we talked about before we left? More than ever, I have faith in that now and I need for you to have it, too.”

There. That would have to do. Any more and she would be saying too much, but she knew Daniel well enough to know that he would get the underlying message. To not give up on Jack. That they were meant to be together, even if he might never know they were soulmates.

Ford gave her a weird look. “I'm not sure about this, Doc.”

She smiled at him, waving off his concern. “Don't worry, Lieutenant. Dr. Jackson has full clearance when it comes to the expedition. I haven't given up any state secrets.” She might have skirted the line when it came to the order Dr. Weir had given with regards to the soul bond information, but she hadn't crossed that, either.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

John stared out of the window, feeling sick to his stomach as they watched the culling unfold. He was _not_ good at just sitting by and doing nothing, but it would be worse than suicidal to even attempt to take on the Wraith. But to be forced to sit idly by and watch hundreds and hundreds of people being swept up as so much fodder, it went against everything he believed in. “This is hard to sit and watch,” he admitted.

“There's nothing we can do.” Teyla's voice sounded dead. When he glanced at her, he was shocked at the drawn expression on her face. This was not the Teyla he had grown to respect and admire.

“We could do a lot,” he corrected. “It'd just be the last thing we ever do.”

She turned her head with a look of confused disbelief. “We are vastly outnumbered and the gate is still inaccessible. But if we save Orin and his family we will have done _something_.” Her voice was on the verge of tears, and for once, John knew how she felt.

He nodded firmly, swallowing hard. “Something,” he agreed. If only he could be sure it would be enough. Forcing his eyes forward again, he was determined to at least witness the passing of a people.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Teyla's heart was breaking. So much death. So much loss. The need to act was great, but she knew all too well the futility of action in this instance. She had joined the people from Earth because she truly believed they were the best hope in defeating the Wraith. She had every intention to do everything within her power to save her people. To save _all_ people in Pegasus if she could. To her mind, it was the duty of every person alive to stand up against the Wraith, even if the only way to do so was to try to save the last of a civilization.

She had had reason for disappointment and disapproval before with these people she had come to know and love as family. They were far from perfect, not that she herself could claim to be either. Still, when Ford suggested they steal the ZPM from the children on M7G-677 in order to briefly gain the shield for the city. And earlier, when John refused to come to the aid of her father's friend until they had no choice but to remain on the planet. These were the times where she could not understand them.

A sudden bright, white beam slammed into the ground in the middle of the village, the impact of it shook the jumper. They both stared at it, shocked. “What _is_ that?” John asked uneasily.

She shook her head. “I have never seen such a thing.” Leaning forward slightly, she could not see where it originated from, which meant it was likely coming from one of the Hive ships. She had never heard of anything like this, had no concept of what it might mean. Though as she continued to watch, she began to wonder if this was what the Wraith had used to scorch Athos. There was a strange aura forming at the site of impact that she could not explain.

John jumped up, a look of determination on his face. “I'll go check it out.”

Panic seized her. Swiveling in her seat, she grabbed John's sleeve. “You may be discovered!” she cautioned. For all that she had begged him to help before, him risking his life needlessly now was not what she had wished for. She shook her head. “Major,” she pleaded.

John sighed, pointing at the beam. “I just want to see... whatever 'it' is,” he tried to assure her, though she felt he was not succeeding. “You just... stay here until Orin and his family show up.”

With one reproving look, John grabbed his P90, hit the door opener, and headed out leaving Teyla behind to her thoughts. Saying a quick prayer, she resumed scouting through the window in hope of spotting Orin. She hoped very much that they would make it to safety. She owed it to her father's memory.

How much time went by without a sign of life, Teyla wasn't sure. She was beginning to fear for Major Sheppard's life, and she tried very hard not to think on Orin's fate. They just had to be alright, or else it would be on her. In order to keep from going out of her mind, she set about gathering supplies, aware that any survivors were likely to need First Aid. She had just pulled down the kit and put it on the bench in the rear compartment when a sudden noise alerted her. She looked up, her breath catching in her throat as her heart attempted to beat its way out of her chest.

Wraith!

Her eyes flitted to the bench opposite her where her gun lay. The Wraith drone had stopped, apparently sensing her presence. Holding her breath, she prayed he would move on, that the cloak would hold even though the jumper was open and she would be in plain view if it didn't. There were mere feet between them and she very much doubted she would be fast enough to reach her weapon in time to prevent it shooting her if it spotted her.

Seconds ticked by and Teyla tried to control her heartbeat. Finally, _finally_ the drone turned away and she was able to breathe freely again. Her legs were shaking so badly that she had to sit down or risk falling over. Perhaps Major Sheppard had been right. They were putting themselves at risk being here. When would this nightmare end, she wondered.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

John ran as fast as he could toward the spot he had parked the jumper. There had been one too many close calls as far as he was concerned and he wanted _off_ this planet, stat. Stark relief flooded him when he saw Teyla pop up out of thin air, helping him find his way. “It's pretty ugly out there,” he murmured. When he stepped up the ramp, he slowed his stride, taking in the people in the rear compartment with a frown. “Is this Orin's family?”

“No,” Teyla admitted.

John shot her an incredulous look. What did she think this was? They weren't a lifeboat taking on passengers from the Titanic, for Christ's sake.

Unable to meet his eyes, she glanced at one of the men before forcing herself to face John. “They have not seen Orin since before the culling began.”

John sighed, hating to be the one to tell his friend there was little hope of them having made it. “The village is pretty much wiped out.” Right. It was time. Long past time, as far as he was concerned. Stepping into the cockpit, he picked up the binoculars, hoping for some sort of sign. His heart skipped a beat when he saw the gate wink out. “The gate just shut off,” he said, unable to hide his relief. “We should be able to dial up and get out of here before the Wraith can do anything about it,” he said, dropping into his seat and preparing to leave.

Teyla stepped up to him hesitantly. “Please, Major, give Orin more time.”

Was she kidding? Who knew whether they would get another shot at getting out of here and she wanted to _wait?_ “If he were able to get here he would be here by now,” he argued. “We gotta get back.”

Teyla's face hardened. “Then go,” she said, turning away from him to grab her gun. “I will stay and search in daylight. You can return for me later.”

What? No way! Why was she being so damn stubborn about this? Surely she knew she wouldn't stand a chance out there on her own. She was good, but she had no hope against an enemy like this. “You can't do that,” he reasoned.

“I consider Orin _family_ , Major!” she snapped. “I'm sorry if you do not understand what that means.”

He ground his teeth. “Oh, I understand it, Teyla, but that's not the point!”

“With, or without you, I am staying,” she insisted.

“You won't make it.”

She sighed. “Then I ask that you stay as well. Just a little longer,” she pleaded. “Allow something good to come of this.”

Counting to ten, he tried to keep his cool as he weighed his options. Cursing himself, he closed his eyes. Oh, but he was going to get it from Rodney, especially if this turned out to be a mistake. “Fine. I'll give him a little more time.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Rodney met John in the jumper bay, wrapping his arms around him the second he was off the ramp. “I should be so mad at you right now,” he murmured.

John huffed. “You have no idea.”

Lifting his head, he glanced at the slew of people trodding out of the jumper ahead of Teyla. “You brought back strays?” he said sotto voce. “Was that really the best idea, considering?”

“Rodney,” John groaned, shaking his head.

Poking John's chest, he scowled. “Seriously. What took you so long? You were supposed to be back hours ago.”

When John explained what had happened, how they had ended up stuck on the planet and then waited for any survivors that happened their way, Rodney's insides turned to ice. “You promised, John. You _promised_ you wouldn't do anything stupidly heroic,” he accused.

Holding up his hands, John shook his head. “Baby, I didn't have a choice. The Wraith gated in before we could dial out. They kept the gate busy all night. I promise, we left as soon as we safely could. Well, almost as soon as, since we waited for Orin and his family.”

Rodney grumbled under his breath, too tired to really put his back into an argument with his mate. He walked alongside John to Elizabeth's office. God, but he wanted their bed, but not without John there. He had tried to nap earlier and his mind had conjured up horrifying image after horrifying image without John there to hold him. To keep him safe. So instead of heading to their quarters, he filled John in on what had been going on. “There's still room left for you to send a message, if you want.”

John's mouth tightened, his posture stiffened, and the bond seemed to dull. Rodney frowned. “What? What is that about?”

“Nothing, Rodney. Not something to worry about now, at any rate,” John said, sighing.

He huffed. “Elizabeth took care of the messages for the people we... lost. She left Colonel Sumner's family for you, though. We thought that you might want to do that one yourself.”

John nodded. “Yeah. I guess that wouldn't be a bad idea. Thanks.”

Rodney patted his arm awkwardly. “Ford's waiting for you in the conference room. As soon as you're done, we're going to send the data burst to Earth.”

John paused on the stairs and tilted his head. “You think they'll get the message?” he asked quietly.

Rodney considered it for a moment, then nodded. “Yes. I doubt it'll do us any good, but at least Earth can start to mount a defense. That's worth something, right?” It had to, or else what had been the point of it all.

“Yeah,” John agreed in a whisper as he took Rodney's hand. “That's worth something.”

  
  



	28. Chapter 28

“Halling, you _must_ talk to them. They will not listen to me, perhaps they will believe you. The Wraith are coming. They will be here in a matter of days and we are running out of time. We must get our people to safety and we cannot allow them to be so unprepared,” Teyla urged, suppressing the rising fear and anger that seemed her constant companion of late.

Halling looked saddened, which made her temper flare the more, but she firmly stamped down on it. Alienating her friend would do her little good. “Teyla, where would we go? The Wraith have awoken. No world is safe anymore. If they come, then let them. We will meet them as we must,” he said calmly.

Grabbing his sleeve, she stepped closer. “What about Jinto? Would you risk him being culled? Or perhaps that will not be his fate. Perhaps he will be destroyed by one of their weapons as they fire upon us from orbit? Don't you see, Halling? They are too many! We cannot hope to remain here and survive, and even if, by the grace of the Ancients we do, the Lanteans are going to destroy the city to prevent the Wraith from gaining access to it. We would be cut off from the gate forever with no hope of trade or escape.”

Why would they not listen to her? How could they not see the severity of the situation? She wanted to curl up in a ball and sleep for days, she was so very tired. She hadn't been able to sleep much, and what little she managed was riddled with nightmares of the Wraith, worse than she had ever had before.

Halling placed his hand over hers and smiled sadly at her. “If Jinto wishes to leave, he may do so. All our people may, you know this. We simply choose to remain and face what comes. Would the Lanteans deny us the right to defend ourselves, or the heritage of the Ancestors?”

Taking a steadying breath, she stepped back, inclining her head in acknowledgment of his point. “You are right, of course. It is just...” she trailed off, unable to finish her thought.

Halling tilted his head. “Will you stay here with us?” he asked quietly.

She shook her head. “You know I cannot, my friend. The best hope I have of fighting for our people is by being alongside the Lanteans as they defend the city of the Ancestors. I had just hoped...” she paused, closing her eyes briefly as she breathed, trying to calm herself. “I had just hoped to get as many of our people to safety as possible. For any of this to have been worth it, some of them _must_ survive.”

“I understand,” Halling acquiesced, though she could tell he wished her answer had been different. Part of her wished it had, too, but she had made up her mind long ago. “I will do what I can, Teyla. I know there are a few who would seek safety, but most will choose to remain here. We have been on the run long enough. This is home now.”

Strange how that had worked out, she thought. Atlantis had become home for her these past few months. She still missed Athos, but not as much as she used to. She wasn't quite sure how she felt about that realization.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Rodney was beyond exhausted and not really in the mood to deal with meetings yet here he was in one of the larger conference rooms, surrounded by most of his more capable minions - and Kavanagh, he added grudgingly to himself. Stifling a yawn he glanced around the room, taking note of the signs of exhaustion on his people; most of the higher ranking officers were there, too, looking none too fresh themselves.

As soon as the message had been sent through the gate to warn Earth, he and his minions had set about trying to come up with ways to defend the city. So far, they had had little luck. Their best bet would be to power the chair, but they lacked the ZPM to power it and they hadn't had any luck jerry rigging it with any of the generators. Grumbling quietly, he crossed his arms as he forced himself to at least try to pay attention to the meeting Elizabeth had called. He appreciated the fact that she wanted everyone to be on the same page, but he had things to do and too little time to do them in and this meeting was ensuring he had even less so.

“According to Dr. Zelenka's calculations, we have less than a week before the Wraith get here.” Elizabeth folded her hands together in front of her as her gaze swept over each and every person crammed in the room. “I want options.”

Options. Right. He'd just pull some out of his ass, because at this point, all their options were shit anyway, he thought morosely. He felt a spike of worry from John, which was mirrored in his eyes when Rodney looked over at him. He waved him off, annoyed with himself. God, but he needed sleep. Soon.

His mind was drifting as Elizabeth and Teyla got into a spat about the Athosians leaving or staying. A tiny part of him was surprised at Teyla's vehemence, but he was simply too tired to try to read into any of it. Everyone was tense, these days, so why not her.

“Oh, please,” Kavanagh suddenly cried out, startling Rodney back to alertness. “You can't possibly consider staying and fighting.”

Rodney had to admit the man had a point. They were vastly outnumbered, both in manpower and in technology. What chance did they have, really? Of course, John disagreed, which didn't surprise him in the slightest. He shot his mate an exasperated look, which merely earned him a smile.

“There are tens of thousands of highly advanced alien spaceships on their way here to destroy us,” Kavanagh reminded him, oozing incredulity and disdain. “And we have what? Two hundred people, most of whom are scientists who've never even fired a gun before?”

Rodney sighed. Oh, but he hated to do this especially considering the exaggerated numbers Kavanagh used. If it had been anyone else, anyone at all, he wouldn't mind as much on the whole, but him? “Shockingly, this is the first time ever I find myself having to agree with...” he pointed over his shoulder and forced the name out, “Kavanagh.” And this is how you knew you were in deep trouble, Rodney thought, suppressing a grin at the sudden spike of amusement coming from John. His mate knew full well how he felt about the man and in Rodney's opinion, spacing Kavanagh would always be an option.

John rolled his eyes. “All I'm saying is, let's not give up. Just yet.”

Rodney snorted. “What was that we were all supposed to remember,” he snarked. “Something important.” Snapping his fingers, he looked at John. “Oh yes, that's right. The Alamo.”

Lowering his head, John closed his eyes briefly, having to fight to keep from laughing in spite of himself. Rodney grinned triumphantly at him. Ah, that was definitely one thing he liked about the bond. John could never really hide his feelings from him, at least, not without some serious effort.

Once John had collected himself again, he pressed on. “Granted you guys are scientists. _No one_ is considering putting you on the front lines, but science _can_ turn the tide of war. Look at the... A-bomb.”

Rodney shook his head even as Radek said, “Not exactly our proudest moment.” Rodney had to agree with his friend. As far as examples went, that probably wasn't the best one to throw out there.

Elizabeth called them back on point, reminding them that she needed everyone to do what they did best, and that if there were options to be had, she wanted them. With that, she dismissed the meeting. John got up and walked over to him, concern in his eyes as he looked him over. “You look about to drop, Rodney,” he reprimanded.

He huffed, rolling his eyes. “Probably because I _am_ ,” he admitted. There was no point denying it to the man after all.

John cupped Rodney's shoulders, stooping a little to meet his eyes. “You are going to go to our quarters and you are going to take a nap,” he said firmly.

Bristling, Rodney shrugged, dislodging John's hands. “You can't exactly _order_ me to sleep, John,” he protested.

“Actually, I can and I am. You are sleep deprived, and if you keel over from exhaustion when the Wraith show up you won't do anyone any good. I need you firing on all cylinders, baby, so go to bed and get some rest. I will wake you before I go to the Alpha site, that should give you at least four hours. It isn't nearly enough, but it's better than the nothing you've been running yourself on the past few days.”

“And if you won't take the order from John, Rodney, take it from me, before either Carson or I decide to have you sedated. You've been working too hard, harder than anyone on your team. At least _they_ have had the good sense to make sure they get a couple of hours every day, unlike you. I won't have you work yourself into insanity,” Mac chimed in from behind Rodney, startling him.

“They are right, Rodney,” Radek murmured.

Rubbing his eyes, Rodney sighed. “Why are you all ganging up on me?” he complained, though he was touched by their concern. Not that he would ever admit that. They all gave him a pointed look. Throwing up his hands, he grumbled, “Fine. Fine, I'll go to bed, but sleep isn't guaranteed, my mind is all over the place.”

John smiled sadly, brushing his cheek with the back of his fingers. “That's exactly why you need to get some rest. Now go. I'll wake you before I leave, okay?”

Nodding, he sighed. “Yeah, okay.” Turning to Radek, he poked the man's chest and narrowed his eyes at him. “And you, don't let Kavanagh blow up the city while I'm 'sleeping',” he warned.

Radek snorted, pushing his glasses back up his nose as he grinned. “I promise. City will still be in one piece by the time your major wakes you.”

“It'd better be,” he groused, already heading to the door.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Carson shook his head as he continued gathering up supplies in preparation for a possible evacuation.”I'm sorry, lass. I've run every test I could think of, and I can find no reason to explain any of your superpowers,” he quipped, glancing over his shoulder at Teyla.

She frowned, glancing down at the gurney. “I only have the one,” she said quietly.

“I've seen you fight, my dear,” Carson said, chuckling. He had never seen anyone as graceful as her. If what she managed to do in a fight wasn't a superpower, then he didn't know what was.

She smiled bashfully, but didn't otherwise respond. “I've previously traced this ability through family lineage. Does that not make it biological?”

He walked over to her, smiling kindly as he packed the things he'd collected into a bag. “Aye, it would seem so. However, without genetic samples from everyone in your family tree, I would have little to no chance of identifying the specific characteristic that causes the anatomical response.” At her baffled look, he added, “It'd be very difficult.”

Carson's heart went out to the poor girl as she seemed to process what he had said. He knew she had been having trouble sleeping, and that she was struggling with nightmares. He wished that he had easy answers to give her. If he had, then perhaps it would ease her burden some.

“Any chance you have the time to fly me to the mainland?”

His lips quirked. “If you're willing to take your life into your hands,” he quipped. He still wasn't overly fond of flying, but he couldn't deny that flying the jumpers himself gave him some leeway that had proven helpful a few times now. Reaching over the gurney, he patted her hand. “I'd love a break.” And wasn't that the truth. They had all been working hard the past few days to prepare for evacuation, as well as the oncoming battle. He checked with Mac to make sure everything was on track before grabbing his med-kit that he always brought whenever he went to the mainland, in case anyone needed his help. “Alright, lass. Let's go.”

Teyla was unusually quiet on the trip to see Charin. She had explained that her family friend might have more answers for her, but aside from that she had been withdrawn. Carson was starting to worry a little, especially when she all but ignored the rest of her people and made a beeline to Charin's tent. Carson was well familiar with the old woman as she had been ailing of late. She refused any medical intervention, however, but Carson still liked to keep an eye on her, just in case.

Charin was as pleasant as always, though she moved around a little slower than the last time he had seen her. Teyla appeared shocked to see her friend so changed. Carson politely accepted the bowl of tuttleroot soup, an offering Charin made to him and apparently any visitor she received. It wasn't half bad, either, Carson thought as he ate a spoonful. He listened in silence as Teyla and Charin discussed her gift, and where it might come from.

Glancing sideways, Charin eyed Carson briefly as she answered Teyla. “Your father asked me not to tell you.” More to the point, Carson thought shrewdly, he had asked her not to tell anyone else.

Putting his bowl down, he made to leave. “If you'd rather I leave you two to talk, I'd be happy to-” he started.

Teyla shook her head, motioning for him to sit back down and continue enjoying his soup. “It is alright, Carson. Charin, my father is no longer here. Please, tell me?”

Charin inclined her head in acknowledgment as she proceeded to pass on Teyla's actual heritage. Telling her of the few who had been culled by the Wraith, only to return to their world. Changed. How they had been shunned, hunted. The planet eventually destroyed. He was feeling unsettled, though he couldn't put his finger on exactly why. The story itself was disturbing, obviously, but that wasn't it. Shaking his head, he gave up and let Charin's voice wash over him.

When they arrived back on the city, Teyla thanked him for going with her. “You're welcome, lass. I just wish there were more I could do to help you figure this out,” he said apologetically.

Teyla smiled, placing her hands on his upper arms as she inclined her head in the Athosian gesture of friendship. Carson blushed, same as he always did and rested his forehead against hers, closing his eyes. After a moment, Teyla straightened and bid him good day. Carson stared after her for a minute before heading back to work himself. Break time was over, after all.

Later that night, Rodney tried to Shanghai him into sitting in the bloody chair again. He and Radek had dragged him down to the chair room and he really, really did not want to relive the experience of the Antarctic. “You _do_ remember what happened the last time I sat in one of those things?”

Rodney rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes, yes. There's nowhere near enough power for it to do anything, Carson. You _can't_ hurt anyone with it.”

“Then why bother? Gentlemen it's getting late.”

“Because we need to figure out how much juice it needs to work, and we can't do that without having someone in there actually, you know, using it,” Rodney said impatiently.

“You have the gene, why don't you sit in it?” Carson protested.

With another role of his eyes, Rodney sighed. “Because I can't both analyze the data _and_ concentrate on keeping the chair activated.”

“How's it coming, gentlemen?” Elizabeth asked as she walked into the room with an air of distraction.

The three men looked up. “Well not good,” Rodney griped.

“Well, I'm sorry. This won't help. Carson, I need you.”

“Oh thank God,” Carson breathed out in relief even as Rodney objected. He paid him no mind, though, too keen to get away from that dratted chair. “What's going on? Is someone hurt?”

She flashed him a smile. “You were right.”

He blinked at her in confusion. “Well that's lovely. About what?”

“Your theory about the Wraith evolving _after_ the Ancients arrived in the Pegasus galaxy.”

“Ha! Pay up,” Radek said excitedly behind him.

“Oh you have got to be kidding me,” Rodney groused.

Carson stuffed his hands into his back pockets, rocking onto the balls of his heels. “How'd you know?” Oh, but this opened up a whole new area of research, he just knew it.

“The Wraith language is a derivative of Ancient,” she started, but Rodney cut in.

“But that doesn't categorically mean that-”

“Rodney, please,” Elizabeth snapped, shooting him an impatient look. “That's not why I need to see you. I've been able to translate the first part of the log on the Wraith data device,” she said to Carson, handing him her tablet as she began to walk.

“Really?” Carson murmured as he poured over the data on the screen, walking on autopilot toward the infirmary. He read it twice, just to be sure he really had read what he thought he had. “You have got to be kidding me,” he muttered, staring up at Elizabeth in shock once he was done.

“I wish I were.”

“That is disturbing on so many levels,” he said, shaking his head as he placed the tablet on his desk. “Mac!” he called out, his mind already racing with the implications of what he had read.

As soon as his colleague stuck his head into his office, Carson gave him a tired smile. “Do you remember the DNA test we did on Teyla a while back?”

“Aye, of course,” Mac said, nonplussed as he stepped further into the office and closed the door. “Why?”

Carson handed him the tablet and waited until Mac had caught up. The man looked up, wide-eyed and all color drained from his face. “You've got to be joking.”

Carson smiled ruefully, silently wondering if that was to be the catchphrase of the night. “That's what I said, too. I need you to run over the results one more time and compare them to the Wraith DNA we have on file. Don't let anyone else see them,” he cautioned. This was one rumor mill he would work to minimize for as long as he could, for Teyla's sake. He remembered all too well what had happened the last time people had jumped to conclusions about her and he did not wish to put her through that again.

“Aye, of course. I'll get right on it.”

As soon as Mac had left, Carson took a deep breath and glanced at Elizabeth. “We are in for a long night, lass. You and I are going to have a lot of reading to do. I want to learn as much as possible about the kind of research the Wraith did on those poor people. I'll have one of the nurses get us some coffee.”

Aye, it would be a long night, indeed. Of that he was certain. And no doubt a highly disturbing one, at that.

Many cups of coffee later, Mac returned, looking tired, disturbed, and not a little puzzled. Carson rubbed his eyes and stifled a yawn. “What did you find?”

“More questions than answers, I’m afraid. Your suspicions were correct, at least in part. Teyla does have trace Wraith DNA, but there were still a few markers that didn’t match. I ran it against everything we’ve got and from what I can tell, she’s basically got a hodge podge of DNA. She’s predominantly human, Wraith, and lo and behold she has some trash Ancient DNA, as well.”

Elizabeth’s head jerked up in surprise. “What?”

Mac nodded, scrubbing his fingers through his hair in frustration. “Aye. I have no idea whether she’s even got enough Ancient in her for the ATA to take, should she be given it. Or how it would interact with the Wraith DNA, but she definitely has some in her. Mind, I’ve not seen anyone with as little Ancient as she has, at least not among the people of the expedition.”

Elizabeth glanced between them. “Would she have a soulmate?”

Shaking his head, Mac sighed. “There’s no way to tell, really. Not right now, at any rate.”

“Right.” Carson cleared his throat, running a hand over his mouth. God, but he was tired. Focusing his gaze on his two companions, he nodded. “I think it’s best if we keep this between us for now.”

Mac bristled, but Carson held up a hand to forestall his argument. “Trust me, Mac, I have every intention of telling Teyla first chance I get, but I feel that this is not something that should become common knowledge if we can help it. Once I’ve talked to her, it’ll be her decision on who to share this news with.”

Elizabeth crossed her arms, gazing down. “Agreed.” Looking up, she steeled herself. “We don’t want to incite paranoia again.”  
  
“Aye,” Mac sighed, resigned.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Sir, you can't be serious,” Evan said aghast upon hearing the news about Teyla being part Wraith.

John gave him a dirty look, even as Elizabeth said, “That makes her about as different from us as you, considering your ATA gene.”

“Oh, no, ma'am, I didn't mean anything like that. I know Teyla well enough to know she's one of the best people I've ever met, and she's bad ass all around. I was thinking more along the lines of how other people might take that kind of news,” Evan explained hurriedly.

Crossing his arms, Ioan nodded. “Like Bates.”

“Like Bates,” Evan agreed. He was already imagining the many ways the sergeant would spin this into a Wraith conspiracy and he wasn't liking it one bit. Thankfully, there were only a few on the city who had similar views to the sergeant or else they'd be in a right mess.

John stepped forward, motioning for everyone to stay calm. “Let's keep that one under wraps, okay?”

One glance at his superior officer told Evan that he, too, had no problems envisioning the sergeant's likely reaction. “Don't worry, sir, no one's going to find out from me,” he assured. Teyla didn't deserve the certain backlash that would await her as far as he was concerned.

“Why? Why experiment on the humans that way? What, to make them more tasty?” Rodney asked suddenly, frowning.

“According to the log, he was trying to make the feeding process... more efficient,” Elizabeth said with a wry twist to her lips. Efficient, that was one word for it, Evan thought. A pretty damn disturbing one, too.

“I thought you said they already shared several characteristics with us?” Rodney asked, looking as confused as Evan felt.

“Aye, they do. But they still are closer to the bug creature that attacked Major Sheppard than to us,” Carson said.

“Hey!” John interjected, straightening. “I thought we weren't going to mention that again.”

Evan shared an amused look with his brother. This far from that particular incident, it was something they could joke about – at least as long as they did it out of earshot of one Major John Sheppard. Ioan quickly turned his head aside to hide his grin. Mac's amusement bled through the bond as well, and he looked up at his mate who was leaning against the desk next to him. 'You are evil,' Mac mouthed with a wicked glint in his eyes.

“Sorry,” Carson muttered sheepishly.

“Also interesting,” Elizabeth cut in, “is the fact that the Wraith language seems to be a derivative of Ancient.”

Evan blinked, glancing at John. He wondered what that was about. He listened as they speculated on how the Wraith evolved, but while it certainly was something worth investigating at a later date, he didn't feel it was something they needed to focus on right in that moment. Just as he was about to make his case, Rodney bit out, “Yes, yes, yes. But for the moment, all we know is that the Ancients might have 'accidentally' created the Wraith and why Teyla can sense them coming.” Rodney smirked, apparently not bothering to hide his disbelief that they were having this conversation. “Fabulous, mystery solved,” he added, gesturing widely with his hands, “but neither of which help in any _way_ to stop them from coming.”

Silence hung heavily in the air as everyone seemed to remember what was waiting for them. Frivolous research would have to wait for a while. Evan just hoped that it was something they would be alive to pursue at a later date.

~*~*~*~*~*~

John watched as Carson and Kate prepared Teyla for their little experiment, placing various sensors on her. He had to admit that he was torn about the whole thing. Once Carson and Mac had figured out that Teyla’s ‘sensing’ of the Wraith was due to her DNA and that the link was of a telepathic nature, Elizabeth had suggested that Teyla go undercover, so to speak, and consciously seek out a connection to a Wraith. The prospect of having an 'in' into Wraith intel was extremely appealing, but part of him was worried for his friend. After all, they had no real idea what being inside a Wraith's head might do to her. Still, he had okayed the endeavor. Mostly because he figured that if Teyla made up her mind, she wouldn't need permission. At least this way, they had a shot at helping her if something went wrong.

“What do you hear?” Kate asked her.

Teyla scowled, listening intently for something. “Nothing.”

Damn, he thought. It wasn't working. Frustrated, he pushed away from the bed he had been leaning on and crossed his arms. Okay, so maybe he wanted to have that information more than he had wanted to admit to himself. He bit his cheek to keep from distracting them.

The second time Kate had her try, Teyla made a connection. It kind of freaked John out if he was absolutely honest with himself. To watch through a Wraith's eyes as it went about its business? And then the whole feeling it feed thing. He shuddered then jumped when Elizabeth ordered them to stop, to pull Teyla out.

She left the infirmary at a clip, John following behind. “What the hell? It worked,” he started.

Elizabeth rounded on him. “No, John. I know it was my idea, but this is too much to ask of her. Of anyone. To witness a feeding like that? No one should have to go through that. I cannot allow her to try.”

Teyla herself objected strongly to stopping the experiment. “Please, Dr. Weir. I saw a console. I saw where they were headed. There is information there that we need.”

Elizabeth relented and they all headed back inside. Once Teyla was under again, everything seemed to go smoothly until suddenly, it didn’t. Apparently the spying through enemy eyes was a two-way street and Teyla had been taken over by a Wraith. She began threatening them. Pushing aside his fear for her – was she still in there somewhere? Would they be able to get her back? – John tried remain calm.

Carson managed to bring her out of it after a couple of shocks to her system to John's intense relief. Maybe Elizabeth was right. This had been a mistake. What if they had lost Teyla? John shook his head. No, he couldn't think like that. Couldn't start second guessing himself. It had been a calculated risk and one she had willingly taken.

“No more,” Elizabeth ordered, leaving the infirmary.

He hung around, wanting to make sure she truly was alright and to debrief her. What he learned had his stomach in knots.

“There is more going on here, Major. I know there is. If I could try again,” she pleaded.

He put his hand on her shoulder and smiled reassuringly at her. If she wanted to give it another go, he would see what he could do. He understood how important it was to her to help. To turn this bad situation into something good. “I'll go talk to her,” he promised.

When he caught up with Elizabeth in the control room, the gate activated.

“This is Bates. Code Red. Coming in hot!”

“Lower the shield,” Elizabeth ordered even as John ran down the stairs, grabbing a P90 from one of his men. He got into position and did a headcount as people came streaming in.

“That's it, we're clear!” Bates yelled.

“Raise the shield!” John bellowed. The shield went up and several thuds could be heard before the gate disengaged. Lowering his weapon, he glanced down at Bates who had positioned himself in front of him. “So I guess that planet isn't safe anymore.”

In true Bates' fashion, the man started raving about what had happened. John had a sinking feeling that this time, the man might have a point. That planet had been uninhabited. There was no reason for the Wraith to _be_ there. It held no tactical advantage for them, no food, nothing. The only thing there had been the Alpha site, and the only way they could have learned its location was through Teyla when she had been taken over.

John clenched his jaw to keep from biting the man's head off as Elizabeth filled him in on the situation with Teyla. As predicted, Bates went ballistic, saying it was her fault the Alpha site had been compromised.

“At ease, Sergeant,” John bit out, glaring.

“Look, sir, I'm not saying she did it on purpose but this is just proof that she cannot be trusted with sensitive information! If the Wraith can control her at will, who knows what they could do through her. What they might learn! It isn't safe!”

“I admit, in retrospect it probably was a mistake to let Teyla make the attempt,” Elizabeth agreed.

Bates snorted and John sort of wanted to punch the man. Luckily for Bates – and John, because really, he didn't need to deal with the repercussions of letting his temper get the better of him – Ford showed up to let them know Teyla insisted on trying again. “She feels there's something there that we need to know, ma'am. Look,” Ford said imploringly, “fact is, she'll do it with or without permission. Wouldn't it be better if we were there to help?”

That was exactly what John had been thinking earlier. He smiled approvingly at his lieutenant, then shot Elizabeth an expectant look. He'd be there for Teyla, regardless of what Elizabeth had to say about it, but he would much rather have her blessing. Thankfully, she agreed.

This time, Teyla seemed to get a little further before she once again was taken over by a Wraith, only this time Carson's shocks did nothing to get her out of it. This Wraith appeared to control her body, which was a very bad thing as far as John was concerned. She knocked Carson out cold when he tried to shake her. She grabbed the IV pole and swung it at John. He ducked, cursing under his breath. “Teyla!”

For answer, she brought the pole down on his back, knocking the wind out of him. Damn, but that hurt! And he thought the beat downs he got from her during training were bad. Ow! He forced himself to push up, just in time to see Bates shoot her. At least the man had elected to use a Wraith stunner instead of a gun, but it still irked him. Especially when Bates shot him a triumphant look when she went down after the second shot.

John let that sink in a moment. Bates had had to shoot her _twice_! So not only was Teyla stronger with the Wraith possessing her body – because hello, Carson was still out cold, John could barely move yet, and she had apparently tossed Ford clear across the room – but that strength translated in every single way possible. Under normal circumstances, Teyla would have gone down after one shot.

Mac came running into the room, looking a little stunned himself as he took in the wreckage. “Bloody hell, what happened here? Is everyone alright?” he asked as he checked on Carson first who was beginning to come to.

Ford was on his feet already and helped John get upright, too. He winced, gently rolling his shoulders to ease the muscles. “Yeah, doc. Nothing an aspirin won't cure, I'm sure.” He hoped, at least. He knew he would have a few wicked bruises for a while but didn't think there was any damage done. “Check on Teyla, would you? She's been through the wringer and I want to make sure she's okay,” he asked, his eyes focused on her still form.

Mac got Carson in a seated position before he went over to Teyla to take her pulse. Glancing up at John, he smiled reassuringly. “I'm sure she'll be fine. Help me get her in bed, would you? If you're able to, if not, I'll call one of the nurses in.”

He waved him off. “Don't worry, doc, I got her.” It hurt, and it took him more effort than it ordinarily would have, but he lifted her into his arms and put her down in bed with Mac's help while Ford went to Elizabeth's side.

John was still in the infirmary waiting for Mac to give everyone a clean bill of health when Rodney rushed in looking frazzled. He made a beeline for John. “What the _hell_ happened here?” he demanded.

Groaning, John brought his mate up to speed, certain he was going to get an earful for taking stupid risks. He was rather surprised when it didn't come. Instead, Rodney tugged his shirt up and glowered at him after inspecting his back. “Mac, is he fit for duty?”

John side-eyed Mac, annoyed to see the amused twinkle in the doctor's eyes. “Don't worry, Rodney. I don't think he'll have any issues performing his duties.”

John hung his head, sighing. “Really, Mac?” he asked sarcastically. “You had to go there?”

Mac gave him an unrepentant grin as he shrugged. “What can I say. I know how you soldier types can get.”

Rodney snorted and John could sense through the bond that the man had relaxed some. Okay, so maybe he could forgive the Scot his teasing this once.

Teyla was still out cold. It would be a while before they would know if she had suffered any lasting damage from her encounter. Rodney stood by her bedside for a minute, staring down at their teammate and friend. “I don't like that she did this, John,” he murmured, gently tucking a strand of hair out of her face. “It's too risky.”

“So Bates keeps telling me,” John huffed.

Rodney spun on his heels, pointing an accusing finger at John. “No, I meant it is too risky for _her_! God knows what might have happened to her, John! She's our _friend!_ She's _team!_ She-”

John closed the distance between them, wrapping his mate in his arms. “Rodney, she made her choice. No one ordered her to do it. She'll be okay, baby.”

Rodney huffed, holding John tight. “I still don't like it.”

“I know.”

“Major?” Teyla's voice was slurred, barely audible.

Both men turned to look at her. “Hey. How are you doing?” John asked, gesturing for Rodney to fetch Mac who was tending to Carson in the other room.

She closed her eyes, but nodded. “I will be alright.”

Mac, Carson, and the others filed into the room, and Mac started to check her stats, shining the requisite light in her eyes. She endured it patiently before turning to John once more. “I saw their plans. The route their ships are taking to get here.”

“That's good,” Elizabeth said, smiling.

John had to agree, though he thought there was more. Sure enough, Teyla proved him right. “There's more. They do not just want Atlantis. They know about you,” she added.

“What do you mean?” Elizabeth asked, brows furrowed in confusion.

John's veins turned to ice. “Sumner.” He cleared his throat as the image of that fateful day swam to the forefront of his mind. “The female Wraith, she wasn't just feeding on him, she was interrogating him.”

Teyla nodded, her eyes brimming with emotion. “That is why they're waking up. That is why they are coming here. They know that Atlantis is the only way to get to a new, rich feeding ground.”

John felt sick to his stomach. It wasn't bad enough that he was responsible for the Wraith waking up and culling world after world here in Pegasus, but it would also be on his shoulders that their sights were set on Earth. He tamped down on his fears, his concern for the family he had left behind on Earth, even if he hadn't been welcome anymore. He'd put everyone at risk. Everyone.

Rodney grabbed John's hand, squeezing hard. John turned his head, his face a mask of pain and guilt that he could not hide. “They're coming for Earth,” he said hoarsely. God, what were they going to do?

  
  


next


	29. Chapter 29

“Thanks to Teyla, we now know that the Wraith are more interested in Earth than they are in Atlantis, as terrifying a thought as that is.” Rodney paused, glancing at John. The encouraging nod and feeling that came through the bond helped him to maintain a clear head. He wasn't sure whether he would have gotten through this – any of this – without his mate. Pushing any thoughts along those lines aside, he continued presenting their idea to Elizabeth and several others. “We also know that their trajectory has them flying right past the only surviving satellite.”

“The last of what we assume were dozens of defense satellite,” Radek interjected. “The others were destroyed during the Ancients' last stand against the Wraith.”

Rodney sighed, scowling slightly at the interruption. Really, it wasn't important how many there _were._ What mattered was that this one was still there. “Yes yes yes, the point is we think we can use it to our advantage.”

“Wait, I thought you said it was dead,” Bates said.

Rodney spared John a glance of desperation. Why were they surrounded by idiots? Really, whose idea had that been to send off people to another galaxy when they couldn't grasp these basic concepts? “Yes, but we think we have learned enough about how it works to bring it back,” he said with as much patience as he could inject, which – granted – wasn't very much.

“If we are right about what is wrong with it,” Radek pointed out ever so helpfully.

“Yes of course if we are right,” Rodney snapped. Had everyone had a cup of stupid this morning? “But if we are right and it is just out of power, the Wraith have simply been ignoring it.” Come on, people, surely everyone could see how ingenious a plan this was without having it spelled out for them. John had gotten it immediately when they had talked about it the night before.

Radek nodded. “Our preliminary estimates indicate that a single naquadah generator would be enough to bring it back online.”

See? Simple! Power the weapons satellite, destroy the three Hive ships, they live happily ever after. Or at least, if everything went according to plan.

Ford leaned forward. “Why can't we use the generators to get the weapon systems of Atlantis working?”

Radek smiled indulgently at the lieutenant, holding up a finger. “Ah you see, _those_ are designed to be powered by Zero Point Module. The satellite is not.”

John nodded. “And you think it's powerful enough to take on a Wraith Hive ship?”

Rodney leaned against the desk next to John, his arms folded. “Mmm, yes. According to the database it should be powerful enough to take out all three when fully charged. Keep in mind that the Ancient technology is far superior. They only lost the war because they were vastly outnumbered.”

“So are we,” Bates pointed out. “ _And_ outgunned.”

“Ah, but _they_ don't see satellite as threat,” Radek said, grinning.

“In military parlance: surprise is... an element on our side,” Rodney finished lamely. Okay, that had sounded much better in his head. He chanced a peek at John only to find him smiling fondly at him. He gave a little half-shrug as he smiled back.

“Alright, what do you need?” Elizabeth asked after a moment of silent speculation.

Rodney placed his hands on the edge of the desk by his hips as he looked at her. “The satellite is fifteen hours away by puddlejumper. I recommend that we put together a small crew, say myself, Kavanagh, and the pilot.”

John immediately offered himself up for that task, but Elizabeth shot him down even as Kavanagh scowled and argued, “Why me?”

“Because it's either you, Grodin or Kimberly.”  And I actually _like_ Grodin and Kim, he thought. “Unlike you, Grodin’s needed here for other things, and Kimberly has not been cleared for full duty so I'm not about to take her on a mission that likely will require being in a spacesuit. Also, _because I said so!_ ” Rodney glared at the man, daring him to question him further. Yes, they would be stuck on the same ship for at least thirty hours, and it would be a miracle if Rodney didn't end up killing the man, but after they had lost Abrams and Gall during the first mission to the satellite, Grodin, Kimberly, and Kavanagh had worked hard to learn all they could about it.

“But-” Kavanagh started, but Elizabeth overrode him by virtue of quietly reminding him that her offer to take him to an unpopulated planet still stood. Rodney was pleased to see the icy glint of determination in her eyes, and the color draining from Kavanagh's face. “Fine,” Kavanagh bit out, crossing his arms tightly across his chest.

She nodded. “Very well. Rodney, Miller can be your pilot. Major, I need you to keep looking for a new Alpha site. Just in case this fails.”

“Yes, ma'am,” John agreed.

Everyone left the meeting to prepare for the tasks that lay ahead of them. Grodin and Kimberly both paused to wish him good luck. Rodney was in no doubt that they meant enduring the trip with Kavanagh more than they did attempting to fix the satellite.

John waited for him by the door of the conference room, letting everyone else out until it was just the two of them left. He wrapped his arms around Rodney, hugging him. “Sorry I can't go with you. Hate the idea of not having your back,” he murmured, sighing.

“I know. But we both have jobs to do.” He held John tightly, hoping he managed to keep his own disappointment from bleeding through. Rodney disliked the very idea of being far from his mate right now, every moment was precious to him but he was rational enough to understand that it just wasn't possible. They both had duties to perform, and there would always be times when that meant they would be apart. Like now. Didn't mean he had to like it, though.

John pulled back, cupping Rodney's cheek as he stared at him. “You be careful out there, okay? Promise me.”

“You know I will. Besides, don't think I don't know that you'll have Miller keep close tabs on me. _You_ be careful, though.”

John shrugged, grinning. The man didn't even deny he was going to see to Miller getting very specific orders. Rodney rolled his eyes, kissing him briefly before he forced himself to step back. Why did they have to have so little time? “We'd better go. Wouldn't want to give Kavanagh the chance to space himself, now would we?”

John barked a laugh, running his fingers through his hair, his eyes twinkling. “Yeah, wouldn't want to deny you that pleasure,” he joked as they headed down the stairs.

Rodney watched as John made a beeline for the ready room. Let him find a planet, he thought.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Evan and Ioan were already prepping their teams when John walked in. “Sir, have we got a planet yet to check out?” Evan asked.

John nodded. “Yeah, we all do. We spent the better part of yesterday compiling a final list. I wish there was more time to go through the database and scout planets, but time's the one thing we don't have. So Evan, you and your team will take M64-PL9. Ioan, you take P2X-287, and we'll take P2R-887. We have a four hour window to scout these out, gentlemen, so remember: we're looking for _close_ , not ideal. Can't afford to be too picky here.”

A “Yes, sir,” chorused through the room. Ioan and Evan shared a look of steely determination as they finished gearing up. There was too much hanging on these missions, and they both knew it. Evan said a quiet prayer that Rodney's plan would work and that their efforts would be in vain.

“Ready?” Ioan murmured.

Taking a deep breath, Evan nodded, flashing his brother a reassuring smile. “Yep. Let's get this show over with.”

He followed his brother's team to the gate room and watched as they gated out first, wishing him good luck as he disappeared through the event horizon. John walked into the room right as Chuck finished dialing M64-PL9.

Evan grinned at him. “Any last words, sir?”

John shrugged, returning his smile easily. “Skip the duty-free, Major. No need for souvenirs this time.”

Evan laughed, saluting. “Yes, sir.” He was the last of his team to step through the gate and they all fell into their usual formation quickly. So far, so good. At least there were no Wraith waiting for them by the gate, or any other people immediately after their heads. There were signs of civilization close by, though, which bore investigating. As soon as the gate was cleared, Evan called out, “Fan out. Stay in radio contact. You know the drill.”

They headed toward the town that was visible from the gate, though the LSD didn't appear to show any sign of life. At all. Evan frowned as he checked it again and got nothing. It was also eerily quiet, and it was rapidly getting dark. Worse than timezones, Evan thought, rolling his eyes.

“Sir?” Peterson's voice chimed in Evan's ear.

“Got something?” Evan asked, halting his steps.

“You might want to come look at this, sir.” Peterson sounded troubled, which worried Evan. Not much rattled the man, so whatever it was didn't bode well for the prospects of this being a possible Alpha site.

Night had fallen completely by the time Evan found the man in what appeared to be the town square – or what was left of it – staring at something in the rubble of a building. Scanning his surroundings, Evan had the odd sensation of being back in the middle of a warzone back home, only worse. Up close, he could just make out signs of some kind of bombardment – orbital, Evan thought – that had taken out several city blocks just past where they were standing. As he shone his light over the ground, he could see evidence of bodies, long dead.

He stepped closer to one when he noticed something odd and kneeled down to inspect it. Just as he leaned in to lift a piece of clothing, a shrill howl pierced the air and he jumped to his feet, weapon at the ready. Peterson, Dylan, and Simmons were on high alert, too. “What the hell was that?” whispered Simmons.

Checking the LSD again, Evan's eyes widened. Lifesigns. Lots of them and headed their way. Casting one last glance at the body at his feet, he gulped. He was fairly sure that those tears had been made by very sharp teeth, and he was not in any mood to find out whether he was right. “I don't know, but I have a feeling we shouldn't hang around to find out. Fall back to the gate, now,” he ordered as another shriek rent the air.

They ran all the way to the gate, Evan periodically checking the LSD. Whatever it was that was making that sound was getting closer. Peterson beelined it for the DHD and began dialing fast as he could, but not fast enough. Evan could see _something_ moving closer to them, just outside their line of sight, stalking them. “Hold your fire unless they attack,” he reminded Dylan as he heard the man prime his gun.

Evan's flashlight caught the glint of an eye, but before he could see clearly, the creature had darted away as if the light bothered it. Fumbling in his vest, he pulled out a couple of glow sticks and, after breaking them, threw them toward where the shrill cries were coming from. He heaved a sigh of relief when he heard the creatures move away from the light, dim as it was. Apparently they had a real problem with it, which was fine with him. The kawoosh of the gate activating was an even more welcome sound and they all were quite happy to leave this world behind. Evan would make a note in the database that this planet was off-limits. Preferably at all times, but at the very least at night. _He_ was certainly in no hurry to set foot on it again. Ever.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kimberly sighed, frustrated. “Radek.”

“Yes?” He pushed his glasses up his nose as he straightened.

Beckoning him over, she shifted aside to give him a better view of her screen. “I think we have a problem.” A big problem, she thought, if they couldn’t figure out a way to destroy the base completely if it came down to it.

“What kind of problem?” Radek squinted at the screen, then blinked owlishly at her. “Oh. Yes, I see what you mean. Of course.”

Running her fingers through her hair, she let her eyes drift around the room, taking in all the consoles and what they represented. “Do you want me to tell Elizabeth?” she asked, turning back to Radek. She wasn't opposed to doing so herself, but technically Radek was Rodney's second and therefore the one things normally would go through whenever Rodney wasn't there.

Radek shook his head. “No, is fine. I wish to run a few simulations first, see if we can maximize damage.”

“Alright, though I doubt there's anything we can do that'd be enough. We have to assume the Wraith are capable enough to backwards engineer anything the Ancients have, should they get their hands on it. Especially if they get a hold of even the smallest part of the mainframe.”

“Yes, yes, I know. Would be stupid to believe them incapable. We cannot afford to let them have anything. It would be...” He trailed off, frowning.

“Disastrous?” Kimberly supplied. Radek nodded. “Quite.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“What was that?” Kagawa looked disconcerted as he scanned the area. They were several klicks south of the gate and hadn't encountered any hint of civilization. The few animals they had seen had scurried away from them.

Ioan glanced at Diaz who was going over the readings on his handheld when they all felt it again. Tremors. Faint at first, but rapidly growing. They only lasted a few seconds, but it was enough to set Ioan on edge. God, but he hated earthquakes. “Anything?” Ioan asked Diaz.

Another, more violent tremor was answer enough for him. “Never mind,” Ioan said. “I think it's safe to say this planet won't work. Sort back to the gate.”

“Aye, sir,” chorused from his team. They headed back, their journey slowed significantly by ever more frequent quakes.

“Sir,” Diaz chimed in from just behind Ioan. “I think we're headed toward the epicenter. I can't be sure without a seismographer, but from the few readings I'm getting...”

Damn, Ioan thought, scowling. “Let's hustle, gentlemen,” he urged, picking up speed. They had to make it to the gate. If Diaz was right, it might mean serious trouble if these quakes increased and he for one wasn't about to get stuck on this damned planet.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“This place seems nice enough, sir,” Ford commented as they scouted the area. “Kind of like paradise, really.”

John had to admit, the lieutenant had a point. Far as the eye could see, there was lush greenery, beautiful flowers. He'd spotted several colorful birds, too, and the weather was ideal. Far as he could tell, there were no weird bugs, and nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary. So why was his gut itching like they were about to run into trouble? “Yeah. Kinda. Keep your eyes peeled, though.”

Teyla shared a look with him and John was positive that she felt it, too. Whatever 'it' was. “Alright. Let's give it another fifteen minutes before we head back.”

Ten minutes later, a roar in the distance sent shivers down John's spine. “What the _hell_ was that?” They all swung toward to sound, but couldn't see much for the foliage. They could hear, though, and what they heard didn't bode well. “Fall back.”

The heavy footfalls of some big creature headed their way had John picking up the pace a little. Within minutes, the ground seemed to tremble, the noise of the approaching animal – it had to be an animal, right? – thundering ever closer. Looking over his shoulder, John thought his eyes might pop out from shock. “Ford?”

“Yes, sir?” Ford continued to run, his focus on the terrain ahead.

“Is that what I think it is?”

Teyla glanced over her shoulder, her face paling at the sight of the huge creature looming ever closer.

Ford stumbled as he took it in and John hurriedly helped him back on his feet. Flushing, he nodded. “If you're thinking dinosaur, sir...”

“Crap. I always hated Jurassic Park. Run!”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“You're done, Ioan,” Mac said, patting his arm. “Just a couple of scrapes and bruises. Though from the sound of it, you were lucky to get home in one piece.”

Ioan nodded, then hopped off the bed, grinning. “Yeah. If I never have to live through an earthquake again, it'll be too soon. I prefer my ground to remain stationary rather than shifting and rolling.”

Mac chuckled. “Aye, I can't blame you there. They're quite... unsettling. Still, it's a shame about the planet.”

“Yeah. We just have to hope Major Sheppard's luckier than we were.”

“Right. Off with you, I'm sure there's plenty you need to take care of, so I won't keep you any longer.”

“Thanks, Mac.” Ioan clasped the man's shoulder briefly as he passed him. He really hoped Rodney's plan would work because as things stood now, the satellite would be their only hope of making it through. Unless Sheppard found a new alpha site. He was almost back in the gateroom when he heard Bates call out, “Unscheduled off-world activation. Major Sheppard is coming in hot.”

Ioan double-timed it, taking a P90 from one of the Marines on duty and took up a defensive position, keeping half an ear on Bates as he shared his... opinions about what was going on with Dr. Weir. Ioan groaned. Damn that man and his paranoia. He didn't have time to respond to anything, however, as AR-1 came in, guns blazing. Ioan readied himself in case anyone or anything followed them through the gate, but thankfully it closed almost on the heels of Sheppard.

Bates strode up to John, oozing overconfidence and self-righteous anger. “I told you she was a liability, sir. Now I'm not going to let your personal feelings endanger this facility any longer!”

Teyla walked up to them. “What?”

Ioan lowered his weapon, frowning. “Bates,” he warned.

Bates, however, ignored him and rounded on Teyla. “I'm not accusing you of doing it intentionally.”

Well, that was at least something, Ioan thought with a huff.

“But the Wraith _must_ be getting information from you,” Bates continued.

John's expression turned from confused to pissed off in a hot second, and Teyla seemed ready to spit nails. “What the hell are you talking about?” John asked, and Ioan could tell the major was having a hard time keeping his tone level. “We ran into a... a... Ford, what the hell was that?” John asked, looking over his shoulder at Ford.

Ford shook his head. “It looked an awful lot like a T. rex, sir.”

A what? Dinosaurs? Were they serious? Ioan's mouth fell open as he eyed the group and took in their genuine distress and shock. Okay, then. Scratch that planet off the list. At least, he hoped it would be. He didn't relish the idea of one of the scientists getting it into their heads to want to study them.

Turning to Bates, John scowled. “Yeah, a T. rex. It wasn't even a Wraith. So why don't you check those accusations.”

“I take it you don't recommend the planet as an alpha site, Major?” Elizabeth interjected.

John only barely shifted his attention to her. “It wouldn't be my first choice. McKay doesn't get the satellite online, we're screwed.”

Bates continued to glower at Teyla, and Ioan had the distinct impression that the sergeant didn't believe them. Oh, this was not going to end well, he was sure of it.

“That's enough, Bates,” John ground out.

“Yes, sir,” Bates said sourly, spinning on his heel and walking out, apparently disgusted by the situation.

John stepped over to Ioan. “I'm guessing you didn't have any luck, either?”

Ioan shook his head. “No, sir. The planet was... very unstable.” And wasn't that putting things mildly.

Running his fingers through his hair, John sighed. “Very well. Back to the drawing board, I guess.” His eyes followed Teyla as she left the room. He frowned. “This can't be good,” he muttered. “Do me a favor, Ioan, and keep an eye on Bates for me? I'm not liking his attitude one bit.”

Scowling to where the man had gone, Ioan nodded. “Yeah, I don't-”

A commotion down the hall had them both running, Ford on their heels. “Ah, shit,” Ioan muttered as he grabbed Teyla and pulled her off of Bates. “Calm down, Teyla, please,” he whispered in her ear, but she continued to struggle, trying to get at the other man. One glance told him Ford was having just as much trouble keeping Bates away from Teyla, and John stood in the middle, pushing the two apart.

“What the hell is going on here?” John growled.

“I was simply stating an opinion, Major,” Teyla spat, still trying to get to Bates. Ioan blinked in surprise.

“She attacked me!”

“And with good reason!” Teyla was absolutely furious.

Ioan had never seen her like this before and he was more than a little unsettled. “Calm down,” he hissed.

“Yeah, and what reason would that be?” John challenged, glaring at her.

“My guess would be the Wraith,” Bates growled.

Ioan shot Bates a pointed look. “Now would be a good time to shut up,” he muttered under his breath. Teyla huffed in annoyance.

John turned on Bates with barely contained anger. “Walk away, Bates.”

“Sir!”

“Walk away!” John roared, shooting Ford a look that said quite plainly to 'help' the sergeant to follow the order.

“This isn't over,” Bates threatened as he shrugged out of Ford's grasp. Turning on his heel, he marched out of sight.

“I would be disappointed if it were,” Teyla shouted after him.

“Teyla!” Ioan hissed, giving her a shake. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Before she could answer, John rounded on her. “What the hell were you doing? You don't go around decking the head of security!”

Teyla's jaw clenched. “He said-”

John cut her off. “I don't care what he said! He says a lot of things. You just stay away from him.”

With a glance at Ioan, she finally nodded, though Ioan could tell that she was far from happy with the order. They watched her walk in the opposite direction, neither of them speaking until she was well out of sight. Ioan blew out a breath as he scratched the back of his head. “Well, that was different.”

John huffed a laugh, though it sounded hollow. “I have no idea what's gotten into her, but I hope she comes to her senses soon.”

Glancing at his superior officer, he pondered. “You worried she might do something stupid?”

He shook his head. “Nah. Teyla'll follow orders. I'm more concerned about what Bates might come up with next, to be honest.”

Ioan nodded. “I'll keep an eye out.”

John flashed him a tired smile. “Thanks. Appreciate it. Now, what say you and I try to find some more planets to explore, see if we can pull a miracle out of the air.”

Grinning, Ioan nodded. “Yes, sir.

 


	30. Chapter 30

“I can't believe they expect us to be out on the front line,” Kavanagh grumbled from behind Rodney. “We're scientists for fuck's sake. I never signed up for this.”

Rodney closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths. Kavanagh had been at it for hours now, pretty much since they got in the jumper, bitching about having to risk his neck and no one showing him the respect he felt he was due. Always doing so quietly, but loud enough to be overheard. At first, Rodney and Miller had simply ignored the man, but Rodney had reached his limit. Turning in his seat, he glared daggers at the other scientist. “Kavanagh, I swear to God, if you don't shut up, I _will_ space you. _Everyone_ is at risk, no matter where we go, so just shut up and do your part so we can save the day, okay?”

Miller snorted a laugh, which he quickly turned into a cough when Rodney turned his glare on him. The man couldn't quite keep from grinning, though, and it was all Rodney could do to keep his own amusement from showing because Kavanagh had gone decidedly pale. And blissfully quiet.

With one final glower at the other man, Rodney turned back in his seat and heaved a sigh of relief. He was a hundred percent sure the peace wouldn't last, but he would take what he could get. After another half an hour, Miller cleared his throat and pointed at the HUD. “Sir, we're nearing the station, you might want to prepare for EVA.”

Rubbing his suddenly sweaty palms on his thighs, Rodney nodded. “Right. Kavanagh, give me a hand.” Oh, how he hated the very idea of a spacewalk. Having to climb into that suit and have his world shrink down to just that. To know his oxygen supply was limited and that if something happened to the suit, he was done for, no help to be had and no John to back him up. He almost refused, but thought better of it. Besides, he would not let on exactly how frightened he was. Not in front of Kavanagh.

By the time they had maneuvered him into the suit, Miller was preparing to dock. “Dr. Weir, this is Miller. We're approaching the satellite.”

“You're on the other side of the solar system, Lieutenant. You guys be careful out there,” came Elizabeth's voice over the comms.

Rodney swallowed hard. “Understood.” Like he had needed that reminder. Grabbing the helmet, he stepped into the rear section of the jumper. “Okay, close the bulkhead doors.”

Miller turned to look at him, giving him a reassuring smile. “Good luck.”

“Right.”

Kavanagh remained silent, rolling his eyes. Rodney shook his head, muttering, “Asshole,” under his breath as he put the helmet on and the doors closed. Grabbing hold of the netting that held the generator in place, he forced himself to breathe evenly as he released the generator and hooked it to his suit. “Okay, you can do this. No big deal.” The jumper jarred slightly as Miller docked into the station. “Come on, Rodney. No space. Just straight into the station. You can do this,” he repeated, trying to calm his nerves as he opened the hatch and made his way down.

“Are you okay, McKay?” Kavanagh asked, sounding frustrated.

“I'm fine,” Rodney bit out. “Why?”

“You're breathing kind of heavily,” came Kavanagh's dry response.

Great. So much for breathing evenly and not showing his fear. No sense denying it, at this point. “I'm feeling a little claustrophobic. How much air do these things hold, anyway?” Now why had he asked that? He wasn't at all sure he wanted to know.

Miller sounded amused. “Eight hours.”

Rodney's heart constricted with panic. “Well that's enough, right? Even with the heavy breathing? We calculated that in, right?” God, why did his voice have to go up like that?

Kavanagh snorted. “You're going to be fine, McKay.”

Was it him, or did the man sound like he wished that wouldn't be the case? Rodney narrowed his eyes as he made his way down deeper into the space station. “Yeah, it's easy for you to say, you're not the one with the eight-hour ceiling worth of breathing,” he grouched.

When he made it to the bottom where the controls were, he tried to activate the power but got nothing. Damn. Well, hopefully this would be the only problem. “It's completely dead.”

Before he could continue, Kavanagh interjected snidely, “Well, we thought as much.”

Oh, shut up, Rodney thought. “I'm going to hook the generator up, see if I can get life support going.” It took a little bit of doing but, in the end, he managed to get it connected, and when he turned it on, he let out a whoop. “It worked! Life support is on. Just have to give it a little time then you two can come down.

Before too long, Miller and Kavanagh joined Rodney and they set to work getting the station operational again. Rodney managed to get full power restored but the gravity still wasn't working. Rodney was floating high, nearly touching the ceiling as he worked on the power restoration.

Kavanagh was on what amounted to the ground floor going over schematics. “Primary power online,” he said flatly – as usual stating the obvious. “Looks like life support is now at a hundred percent. I think I found the switch to initialize the gravity.”

“Okay, great,” Rodney said, trying to make his way to the ladder. “Just give me a second to-” Kavanagh hit the switch, instantly turning gravity back on, sending Rodney plummeting  screaming to floor, passing Miller on his way down. Oh God, he was going to die, he just knew it. He flinched as the floor loomed ever closer and he landed face down with a loud thud. Rodney groaned, his back shooting tendrils of pain through his whole body. “Oh yeah.” Rolling gently over onto his back, he winced. “Yep, that's permanent back damage,” he grunted.

Kavanagh leaned toward him but didn't offer any help. Of course he didn't, Rodney thought. Idiot.

“Sorry,” Kavanagh said, not looking repentant in the slightest in Rodney's opinion. “I assumed it would turn on more slowly.”

Rodney glared at him. “Well, you _assumed_ with my _life_.”

Kavanagh huffed, rolling his eyes. “Stop being such a baby, McKay, it was just a little bump.”

A little bump? Is that what he called it? Rodney had half a mind to ream the man up one side and down the other. Instead, he closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths in an effort to calm himself. They didn't have time for Rodney to chew Kavanagh out, and he still needed the man if they were to have any shot at fixing the satellite on time. Once he had a handle on his temper, he looked at the scientist and – quite calmly, he thought – asked for a status report.

Looking as if he were about to bitch about something, Rodney turned up his glower, causing the other man to fumble in his pocket for his handheld. Peering at it, he scowled. “Looks like everything is operational.” Good, Rodney thought. “Except for the weapon itself,” Kavanagh finished.

Damn. “Ehh, details,” he managed, grasping Miller's hand he let the man help him to his feet. Rodney nodded, muttering, “Thanks.” Moving gingerly toward a terminal, Rodney groaned. “Okay, let's get to work.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

John sat pouring over the data scrolling along his screen, trying to find more viable planets. If he were honest, staring at the computer was starting to give him a headache. Rubbing his temples, he sighed. Then again, maybe it wasn't so much that he was working on this problem. He could sense Rodney’s frustration bleeding through the bond and it was beginning to affect John. He definitely didn't envy his mate being stuck with Kavanagh. He was certain the man would be grinding on Rodney's last nerve by now. “Okay, how about this one?”

Ford leaned over to peer at his screen. “Which one's that, sir?”

John sat back in his chair, swiveling toward the lieutenant. “The one with all the waterfalls?”

“So why don't we just name it Planet Waterfall or something?”

John blinked. Was he serious? Yeah, the kid was never going to get to name anything again. Ever. The LSD had stuck, mostly because John hadn't been able to think of anything better himself, but really... Before he could respond, though, he felt a sudden twinge in his back. It was bad enough that he jerked in his seat. “Ow! What the hell?” he muttered, rubbing the small of his back, frowning. Touching on the bond, he couldn't help worrying what had happened to Rodney. The pain faded, but he was certain his mate had been injured, though he had no idea how or how badly.

“Sir?” Evan put a hand on John's shoulder. “Are you alright?”

John glanced up at his second in command, taking a moment to assess himself before nodding slowly. “Yeah, I'm fine. I think. That was weird. Something must've happened at the satellite.”

Evan nodded, then tilted his head toward the control room. Ioan got up and followed the silent command from his brother. John smiled in spite of himself as he heard Ioan radio Miller for an update. “Thanks,” he murmured to Evan, who nodded again.

John scowled when Miller told them what had happened. “I'm going to kick Kavanagh's ass if we make it through this.”

“I'll help,” Evan said quietly, folding his arms. “What kind of idiot-?” He cut off, shaking his head. “Never mind. Forget I said anything.”

John smirked at his friend. “Said what?”

Evan grinned.

“Major Sheppard? We have a situation at generator station one,” a voice came over the comms. John and Evan shared a look then took off running, followed closely by Ioan and Ford.

“What's the problem?” John asked the Marine that had called him once they arrived.

“Bates, sir. He's been attacked.”

What the hell? He hit his comms. “Get a medical team down here.” Kneeling beside the unconscious man, John checked his pulse. Relieved to find his heartbeat, John glanced over him, wishing they had someone better equipped to handle situations like this. Unfortunately, no one had thought to send along anyone who had more investigative experience.

“Who did this?” Evan asked the marine. “Do you have any idea?”

The man shook his head. “No, sir. We were on patrol when we found him like this. There wasn't anyone around.”

Carson and his team arrived, so John stepped back to let them do their work. After making sure patrols were increased and evidence – what little there was, at any rate – would be gathered, John, Evan, and Ford made their way to the infirmary, Ioan staying behind to oversee matters on site.

Carson met them as they walked into the infirmary. “Is he going to be okay?” John asked as they headed to Bates' side. He might not like the man, but he was still under John's command and he hated losing people.

Stuffing his hands into his pockets, Carson shrugged. “It's hard to tell. He's got five broken ribs, a fractured collarbone, and the concussion was quite severe.”

Well, that certainly didn't sound good. Staring down at the sergeant, John sighed. “When can we talk to him?” He really needed to get information from the man, because right now, all they really had was the prior altercation between Bates and Teyla and John really didn't care to speculate on that. Teyla followed orders. She couldn't have done this, of that he was certain. But still...

Carson shook his head. “You can't, I'm afraid. I've placed him in a medically induced coma until the subdural hematoma can be dealt with.”

John blinked. The what?

Tugging at the sheet needlessly, Carson continued, “We won't be finding out what happened from him any time soon.”

Scowling, John went over his options, which were far too limited to his liking. Ford turned to him. “Teyla and him got into it pretty bad yesterday, sir,” he said, voicing John's thoughts.

Casting a quick look at Evan, he was relieved to see his second in command found it equally hard to believe Teyla guilty of this attack. Biting his lip, he turned back to Ford. “A fist fight and a beating like this are a long drive apart, Ford.”

A strange look came over the lieutenant's features, one John couldn't place. “I understand that, sir, but they were in a fight they were both looking to continue.”

And unfortunately, the kid had a point. Still, he refused to believe it of his friend. Meeting Carson's gaze, John tilted his head to the still form on the bed. “Anything pointing to who did this?” he asked, hopefully.

Lips tightening, Carson sighed. “I'm having a forensic exam done on both his body and his clothing right now.”

John nodded. With a little luck, that would point to whoever did this. “Let us know what you find out.”

“Aye, I'll have Mac tell you himself as soon as he has the results,” Carson assured.

Taking a deep breath, John cast one last glance at the sergeant. “Let’s go get her side of the story.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

Mac's computer dinged, letting him know the test results were finished. Pulling them up, he poured over the findings, frowning. “Hmm.” The DNA sequence he'd run was oddly familiar. He could tell it wasn't any of their expedition, which left few alternatives. Taking a deep breath, he searched for Teyla's file and compared the two. A relieved smile spread on his lips when they didn't match up, though it quickly morphed into dread. The results weren't a complete match, but they _did_ share similar markers.

“Oh, no,” he muttered. “It can't be.” It took him a minute to find the file he was looking for. When he did, the proof of what he was seeing was not unlike getting hit in the face. The DNA he had gathered off of Bates was Wraith. There was no doubt in his mind.

With a shaking hand, he hit his comms. “Carson? You'll want to see this for yourself.”

“I'll be there as soon as I can.”

Mac knew his friend well enough to know he would want to rerun the tests, so he did. Carson arrived just as the results came in. Mac moved out of the way so the man could take a proper look. He didn't need to check the second results, Carson's, “Bloody hell,” told him he had been right.

Carson took a wavering breath. “Right. I'll start preparing sickbay for possible incoming wounded. You go find Major Sheppard and tell him what you've discovered. Him, and no one else. I do not want to alert anyone over the radio, Mac. God knows what that Wraith's been up to, and it wouldn't do to alert it. Or to cause a mass panic, for that matter.”

Mac nodded. “Aye, I'm on it. Back as soon as I can.” He headed out in search of John. Mac wanted to run, but firmly pushed that instinct down. Running would set tongues wagging and that would not do. He did set a fast clip, however. He tried John's office first, only to find it empty.

“You looking for the major, doc?” Chuck called out.

Turning, Mac nodded. “Aye, do you know where he is?”

Chuck pointed to Dr. Weir's office and Mac waved in thanks even as he hurried over.

“-this is Teyla we're talking about,” John said, tilting his head to the door when he heard Mac.

Mac shook his head. “No need to worry about Teyla, Major. You have bigger things to concern yourself with.”

John frowned, but before he could ask, Evan spoke up from beside him. “What do you mean, Mac? Did you find out who attacked Bates?”

Meeting his mate's eyes briefly, he nodded then refocused on John. “Aye.”

“Well, who is it?” John asked with a hint of impatience.

Taking a deep breath, he kept his gaze level with the major. “It was a Wraith.”

“What? How?” Elizabeth sounded stunned.

“That's what I'd like to know. Wraith? Are you sure, doc?” John asked as he got to his feet.

Mac nodded. “Aye, I ran the test twice to verify and it's definitely Wraith.”

John glanced at Evan and Ford in turn. “Ready room.” They both nodded and headed out. John tapped his earpiece. “Dr. Zelenka, I need you in Weir's office, stat.” Meeting Mac's eyes, he said, “Doc, I'll be right back. I need you to fill Zelenka in on everything we have so far, then we'll go from there.”

“Aye, of course.”

He watched as John followed his men to gear up. Closing his eyes briefly, he took a few calming breaths, though his heart wanted to skip a few beats. He had never been in contact with a Wraith before – at least not a live one – but he knew they were creatures of horror. And now they had one running loose on their city doing God only knew what.

When Radek arrived, Mac filled him in on everything, Elizabeth listening quietly to it all. The little man seemed as disturbed by the idea of a Wraith running around Atlantis as Mac was. John and the others came walking back, closing their tac vests. “What I want to know,” John asked, “is how a Wraith got on Atlantis to begin with.”

“Well, he didn't 'gate in,” Ford remarked.

“The dart,” Radek said quietly, looking pensive as he tapped his chin. Mac wasn't the only one to give the man his undivided attention as he continued. “The Wraith dart that scanned us. It made its way through the city, scanning for data. The second it was done, it self destructed.”

Mac and Evan shared a glance. Evan's jaw set with determination. The Wraith had been there for nearly two weeks without notice? The thought horrified him. A sudden feeling of reassuring calm came through the bond, causing Mac to smile a little. “Thanks,” he mouthed at his mate. Evan nodded.

The conversation continued around him and Mac tried to pay attention but his mind was half on what they had learned and half on trying to prepare for what he knew would come. He supposed they had been lucky that Bates had been the Wraith's only casualty so far but he was not likely to be its last.

Mac tuned in again at Elizabeth's, “What we know for sure is that we have a Wraith intruder in the city that we need to track down.”

Radek tilted his head, frowning, then straightened, his face brightening as he thought of something. “I think I have an idea.” He headed toward the control room and began to fiddle with one of the stations.

As Evan walked past Mac to follow Radek and the others, Mac stopped him, placing his hand on his arm. “Ev, be careful.” He worried for his mate. For his friends.

Evan cupped the back of Mac's neck and smiled. “I'll be fine, Mac.” At Mac's narrowing eyes, Evan added, “I promise.”

Taking a deep breath, Mac nodded. “I have to get back to the infirmary. Carson's already prepping for any casualties.”

Evan raised an eyebrow and Mac could feel his mate's amusement. “So little faith in us, sweetheart?”

Mac huffed. “No, but better safe than sorry. Bates was only the first casualty. Once the Wraith figures out we're onto him, it's unlikely he'll be as... careful.”

“We'll get him, Mac.”

“I know. Just... make sure he doesn't get you, too. Any of you.”

Evan nodded and Mac let him go.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Evan cradled his P-90 as he watched Radek, his attention only partially on the man as he fine-tuned the city's scanners. He could feel how on edge Mac was and it made Evan both want to follow his mate to hold and reassure him, and hunt down the Wraith to eliminate the threat altogether. Either way, he was itching to move. To _do_.

“Now if I could only expand the scanning field to-” Radek murmured as he worked. “Oh my God.”

That got everyone's attention. “What?” John asked, frowning as he shared a brief look with Evan.

Radek moved toward the screen, pointing. Evan's gaze followed the direction and he blinked. “There,” said Radek. “That's him. Look.”

“You sure?” John stepped up to the Czech.

Pushing his glasses up his nose, Radek nodded. “Yes. The scanners work much like the LSD, but is more precise. It differentiates between human and....” He gestured at the screen, indicating the single red dot among all the white ones which were presumably all human.

John's jaw seemed to set. “That's him. You can track him in real time?”

Radek nodded. “Yes.”

Straightening, John turned to Evan, his eyes glancing over the others gathered around them. “Ford, Teyla, you're with me. Evan, you and your team circle around to come at him from behind. Let's go get him.”

The sound of weapons going at the ready echoed across the control room. “Yes, sir,” Evan acknowledged, already heading out.

It took them several minutes to get in place as they had to go the long way around, but they were getting close. “He still in the same place, doc?” John's voice came over the radio.

“Yes, he's still in the same room,” came Radek's response. “It hasn't moved since we located him.”

Evan shared a glance with his teammates as John murmured, “Let's hope it's still sleeping. Evan, are you in position?”

“No, sir, not yet. We're almost there, though.” Evan gestured for them to pick up the pace as John let him know that they were ready.

“We're going to breach the room at the same time from different directions. If he tries to get out the other door, take him,” John ordered quietly.

“Understood, sir.” Evan touched on his bond, trying to convey confidence and reassurance. He wasn't about to let the Wraith get away. Mac's quiet nudge of support bolstered Evan.

John's quiet, “Standby,” was the last they heard before the sound of a minor explosion came over the radio, sending Evan and his team running to AR-1's location. There was no need for Evan to give his team orders. They all knew that they had to get there _now_ or risk John and the others getting fed on or killed.

The sound of a Wraith stunner sent chills down Evan's spine. His team rounded the corner just as the Wraith ripped John's shirt open. Dylan, who had one of the two Wraith stunners they had managed to get a hold of, was ahead of Evan by only a few seconds and raised the weapon. The Wraith gloated over his prey – over John – his hand ready to feed. “Nothing will keep us from our new feeding ground.”

Evan aimed his P-90, but Dylan got his shot off first and the Wraith went down in a heap. Scrambling to his CO and friend, Evan kneeled and placed his hand on the man's chest, relief washing over him at the lack of a feeding wound. “We heard the whole thing. We got him, Major, you're going to be okay.”

John blinked slowly, still looking dazed, then closed his eyes. Evan checked his pulse and tried to rouse him but the man was out cold. Turning, he saw Simmons and Peterson were making sure Teyla and Ford were alright, both of whom were also down for the count. Dylan stood poised over the Wraith, ready to fire again should he stir.

Clicking his radio, he had to clear his throat before the words would form. “I need a medical team down here. The major, Lieutenant Ford, and Teyla have all been stunned.”

“Are you alright, Ev?” Mac's voice sounded at once relieved and anxious.

Smiling softly, Evan nodded. “Yeah, I'm fine. We got the bastard before it could do anything.”

“Good. I'm on my way.”

~*~*~*~*~

Why was it always him that got into these situations, Rodney wondered as he worked frantically to reroute the power to the weapon. He _had_ to draw the short straw. Of course, it was lucky he did because of how bad the damage to the satellite had turned out to be. Kavanagh wouldn't have stood a chance in hell at fixing this mess. Turning the last dial, Rodney heaved a sigh. “Okay, that's about all I can do from here. Is power getting through?” Please let this work, he thought.

The seconds it took for Kavanagh's, “Yes, power is getting through,” felt like ages to Rodney.

“Oh, thank God.” For once in his life actually meaning it, he sighed in relief. “I'm gonna end this EVA, we're coming in and we'll pick you up and we'll get the hell out of here,” Rodney said as he carefully pushed off and made his way back to the jumper.

“Sounds like a plan,” Kavanagh muttered impatiently.

As soon as Rodney was back inside the jumper, Miller headed back to the loading dock. Rodney frowned at the sound of a failed docking. Checking the system he groaned. Just what they needed. The jumper couldn't connect to the satellite anymore. “Kavanagh, we're having a bit of a problem. The jumper's not able to dock. See what you can do from your side.”

He shared a frustrated glance with Miller while they waited for Kavanagh's response. “Looks like you rerouted power from the airlock to the weapon.”

Aww hell. “So we'll do it manually, like we did the first time.”

Kavanagh huffed. “You had a space suit the first time. I don't.”

Grabbing the helmet, Rodney sighed. “Okay, we'll go back and I'll reroute power so that-”

“There's no time, McKay, the Wraith are too close,” Kavanagh cut in, sounding pissed.

“Well I know what I'm doing now,” Rodney protested.

“McKay!” Kavanagh bit out. “Leave me here.”

“No! We're not doing that.” Rodney looked determinately at Miller, who seemed unsure.

“There's no time, I'm telling you. Just get to a safe distance. I'll power down the weapon so they won't suspect it's armed until it's too late. Then when the ships have been destroyed you and Miller can swoop in to the rescue.” Kavanagh’s voice both full of disdain and his usual arrogance.

“Doc,” Miller murmured. “He's right. I don't like the idea any more than you do, but...”

Digging his fingers into the back of the co-pilot's seat, Rodney swallowed hard. “Alright. We'll cloak and come back for you once it's done.”

God, but he hated the very idea of leaving anyone on that thing. Even if it was Kavanagh. His heart pounded in his chest as the satellite became smaller. Time seemed to slow for Rodney, so focused was he on what was happening out there. The Wraith ships coming ever closer.

Suddenly Rodney's body jerked slightly and he gasped in shock, his knees buckling with the weight of realization. Miller jumped to his feet and hauled Rodney into his seat. “Doc, you okay? What happened?”

Rodney shook his head, still trying to catch his breath. That had been decidedly unpleasant. His whole body seemed to tingle for a few moments. Taking a deep breath, he met Miller's gaze. “John got hit by a stunner.” Strange, how quiet his voice was, when inside he felt like panicking. His mate had been stunned, which meant that he was in an encounter with the Wraith. And since John wasn't supposed to be off-world right now, that meant that somehow the Wraith were already on Atlantis and there was nothing Rodney could do about it. Not out here, a good fifteen light years away from the city and with Kavanagh stuck on the satellite.

Miller squeezed his shoulder. “I'm sure he's fine, Doc.”

Touching on the bond to reassure himself, he nodded. As far as Rodney could tell, John was okay. A part of him wondered just how far they would have to be before the bond would fail them in respect to letting them know something had happened to the other. And how long it would take until they had gotten used to it, because he didn't think that it would be all that helpful in the field to have this type of reaction every time his mate ended up getting hurt. How did that serve anyone? Yes, it came in handy at times, sure, but...

Shaking his head, he forced his mind to focus on the task at hand. If they made it through all of this, he promised himself he would devote some time on the whole soulbond issue. For now, he had a Wraith attack to thwart. “I'm fine,” he muttered.

Miller nodded and got back into his seat. They stared as the ships got closer still, and Rodney hit the comms. “If you're not powered up yet, now would be a good time.”

“Powering up,” came Kavanagh's curt response. “It'll be weapons-hot in about sixty seconds.”

Switching channels, Rodney radioed Atlantis. “Dr. Weir, the weapon should be ready to fire in under a minute.”

“Good luck, Rodney.” Three words, heavy with the weight of hope and fear.

The weapon hit its mark on the first shot, taking down the biggest Hive ship. Rodney grinned at Miller, who nodded. “Elizabeth,” Rodney called through the radio. “We have a confirmed kill.”

The cheers from everyone on the city rang through the jumper. “We copy that, Rodney,” Elizabeth breathed.

“One down, two to go.” This was going to work, Rodney thought. Then he frowned when the weapon remained silent. Switching channels to Kavanagh's, Rodney urged, “Come on, hit 'em again!”

“We have a problem.” Kavanagh's voice was tight.

Now what, Rodney wondered. “What problem?”

“The circuit we rerouted is overloaded. The weapon _can't_ fire again! I'm trying to find another pathway.”

Oh, crap. Rodney jerked his head, indicating for Miller to move toward the satellite. “We're heading back in to pick you up.”

Miller shook his head, looking unhappy. “Sorry, doc,” he muttered.

“You’ve got to be kidding!” Kavanagh snapped.

“We're cloaked, they won't see us!” Rodney argued. He was not going to leave Kavanagh behind. He just wasn't.

“McKay! Don’t you dare leave me here!” Kavanagh was beginning to panic.

“Get us back there,” Rodney ordered, realizing Miller still hadn't moved them closer.

“Doc,” Miller cautioned, looking pained, his gaze forward.

Rodney turned back to see the Wraith open fire on the satellite, destroying it and taking Kavanagh down with it. “Oh, God.” His heart seemed to stop as he stared in utter horror. Kavanagh was dead. He had hated the man, had threatened time upon time to space him. But even with all of that, he had never wanted him dead, and now he was and it was Rodney's fault. God, but he felt sick.

Kavanagh was gone and he might as well have pulled the trigger himself.

“Doc,” Miller murmured, eyeing him warily. “There was nothing we could have done.”

With a shaking hand, Rodney radioed Atlantis. “Atlantis, this is McKay. We've lost the satellite,” he croaked.

“Did you manage to take out any more ships?”

“Negative, the two other Hive ships are intact.” He paused, drawing in a ragged breath. “Elizabeth... Kavanagh was on board the satellite.”

The silence that followed spoke volumes to Rodney as he dragged a hand over his face. He felt so very tired.

“Understood. What's the status of the other two?”

“They're not coming any closer. Looks like they're rethinking their plans. At the very least, he's bought us some time.”

“You can't do any more out there, Rodney. Return to Atlantis.”

Sagging back in his seat, he shared a glance with Miller, who nodded. “We're on our way,” Rodney said quietly before terminating transmission.

The entire trip home, Rodney kept seeing the satellite being blown up. Curling in on himself, he fervently wished John had been there. He needed him. Needed the steadfast reassurance of his mate. The fifteen-hour trip felt like the longest hours of his life.

  
  



End file.
